Crescendo
by BKK
Summary: Nov. 24 - Two new chapters! It's done! When Wonder Woman puts Bruce Wayne back on the dating scene, it is the entire League that pays the price
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Cue the Orchestra

She dropped the newspaper on the table in front of him.

"You need to start seeing other people," she said with no humor or irony in her voice.

Bruce stared at the Amazonian princess for a moment. He knew what the gossip column said. It was wondering what had happened to Gotham's richest bachelor. He had started showing up to events alone and then leaving them solo. It was unheard of in the history of Bruce Wayne. The assumption, which he had noticed was closer to the mark than he thought the columnist was capable of getting, was that he had found someone but was not taking her out into public.

"Not yet," he answered darkly.

"But sometime," she responded. "Why not do it now?"

"Because the columnist wants me to. I'm no longer good for a 'bimbo of the week' column and she has to do real work now and she is mad about it. I am not falling for it."

"Then we need to make a real effort to be seen together at these events. You need to woo me in public," she said.

"Then the League will know."

"Half the League suspects," she fired back.

"But they do not _know_."

"Back to your enemies using me against you?" she said. Her tone was one of disgust.

"No, Princess, I have visions of being kidnapped by your enemies," he said dryly. The conversation was absurd and he had decided to play along.

She glared at him. "I don't understand the need for a secret identity, but I know it is important to you. I am trying to help."

"And if it was a situation where help was either warranted or requested, I would be extremely grateful."

He looked at her grimly. The absurdness had increased to such a point that he actively wanted to leave. He would have too, but they were having this conversation in his house.

She looked back.

Something inside Bruce snapped. He felt a surge of anger and disgust rise within him and he embraced it.

_Let's dance_, he thought.

"You're right, Diana," he said. "I have balanced two identities; I certainly can balance two women. Your idea is a good one. Bruce Wayne is back on the market."

Bruce caught the regret that flicker for only an instant on Diana's beautiful face.

"Good," she said. "That's settled then. I need to get back to the Watchtower."

She kissed him quickly but tenderly and then transported out. Once she was gone, Bruce walked to his study where he attacked the pile of invitations on his desk with a gusto he had never experienced before.


	2. The Overture Begins

Chapter One: The Overture Begins

Alfred was appalled.

He had gotten quite used to Diana being the only woman who appeared in the Manor. Lovely, sophisticated, friendly Diana was a welcome addition to the household. So, when Bruce returned from the fund-raiser with a loud, silly blond who was not even culturally literate enough to call him "Jeeves" but rather "Mr. Belvedere," Alfred nearly lost his trademark control. He was quite sure that Bruce did notice the unusual enthusiasm with which Alfred showed the woman to the door when Bruce needed to prepare for patrol.

Alfred closed the Manor door and allowed himself a silent sigh of relief. Bruce stood in the foyer with an unreadable expression on his face.

Years of training kept Alfred from saying what he really wanted to say. Rather, he chose, "I was unaware you were planning to bring back a guest, sir. My apologies if her time here was in any way unpleasant."

"Bull shit," Bruce replied in a pleasant tone. "You hated her. But you won't be seeing her again."

"Will there be someone else?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, Alfred. I have been too long out of the gossip columns."

Alfred stiffened with concern. "Sir, has someone _suggested_ something?" Alfred had three nightmares: that he would die and Bruce would blame himself, that Bruce would die on patrol and, the worst, that Bruce would be unmasked and the reign of Batman would end.

"No," Bruce answered quickly. "This is strictly a proactive measure."

"Sir, I must confess I don't entirely understand."

Bruce smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "You've seen the speculation in the newspapers that I was hiding some secret love. Diana suggested that I needed to get the attention off of me before someone learned something they should not. And, since apparently, Amazonian princesses aren't concerned about monogamy, I find myself in a most enviable position."

Alfred wanted to, but did not, close his eyes and shake his head. He realized that Diana was much older than he was, but all he could find himself thinking was _foolish children._

"Of course, sir," he said.

Bruce frowned and looked at his watch. "I need to get ready for patrol. You will worry anyway, Alfred, but I assure you, there is no need."

"Of course, sir," Alfred repeated and left Bruce to travel to the Batcave.

--------------------

Green Lantern was concerned.

_This is not my area. This is not my area_, he thought as he approached Diana in the cafeteria with the newspaper folded under his arm. She smiled warmly at his approach.

"Diana, I wanted to see how you were doing," he said gently.

"I'm fine. Thank you," Diana said. Lantern paused. Diana didn't lie, which meant that either she was fine or she was in serious denial.

_Do Amazons do denial, _he wondered

"I've seen the newspaper, Diana. Do you want to talk about it?" he said, sitting down in the empty seat next to her.

"About what?" Diana said.

_Oh no_, Lantern thought. _She doesn't know._

He opened the newspaper to the society page. Above the fold was a photo of Bruce Wayne looking captivated by three women. The column discussed how Bruce arrived with one of the women but left with another one. Diana looked at the page and then, still clearly confused, looked back at Green Lantern.

"I wasn't at that event," she said. "I'm not sure who Bruce came or went with. Is one of those women dangerous?"

Lantern paused for a moment and then realized he needed a different approach.

"Diana, I know you and Batman were an item. I know you both didn't talk about it, but it doesn't change what I know. I am not going to take sides, but if you want to talk about it, I've had my heart broken a few times and I know how you feel."

John watched as Diana suddenly understood. "Oh, no. My heart isn't broken," she said. "You are such a good friend to ask, but really, I'm fine."

Now it was John's turn to be confused. "Diana, he is seeing other women. Actively. Obviously. Doesn't that bother you?"

"No," Diana answered simply.

"You dumped him?"

"No," Diana answered. "Everything is as it has been."

John paused for a moment before responding.

"So, you are okay with this," he said, gesturing to the newspaper.

"I suggested it," she said simply.

Lantern could not keep the amazement off his face. "Really?"

"Really."

"All right," Lantern said, totally defeated. "I never thought I understood women, but now I am going to stop trying." He gave her a grim smile. "You've probably saved me a lot of trouble."

"Glad I could help," Diana said evenly.

Lantern stood and was about to leave when Flash blurred in and stopped in front of them. He was holding a letter.

"Ha, ha," he said angrily. "You got me. I don't know how you know that I switched all the sugar and salt containers here in the cafeteria, but you got your revenge."

Lantern and Diana looked at each other. "That was you?" Lantern roared.

Flash didn't back down. "Hey, you knew that. That's why you sent me this. I didn't sleep last night until I figured out it was you guys." He threw the letter on the table.

"**I know who you are,"**it said in block letters.

"It came to my Watchtower mail box. Those things are good for nothing," Flash said.

"Flash, I knew nothing about it. In fact, I didn't even know the salt and sugar had been switched," Diana said, reaching for the letter to examine it more closely with John investigating over her shoulder. As she feared, it was going to be extremely hard to trace.

"Do you have the envelope?" she asked him. "And are the salt and sugar switched back?"

"Stop," Flash said, looking at the two of them. "Unless you want me to believe that Supes did it. And I don't." He paused. "Yeah, they're fixed."

"Flash, there are literally dozens of League members who could have sent it as a prank," Diana said, looking at the postmark of the envelope. "But someone sent this from Central City. You need to treat this as real."

"I agree, Flash," Lantern said. "You need to pay attention to who is looking at you when you are Flash _and _Wally."

"_Everyone_ looks at me when I'm Flash. And I'm pretty hot without the mask on too, you know," Flash said.

John sighed loudly. Diana smiled.

"Anyone new in your life?" Diana asked. "Dating or at work or at your favorite restaurant?"

Lantern grimaced. "Yeah, you probably ought to eat here until this gets figured out."

"Hey, I've got a high metabolism," Flash protested. "And I eat at a lot of places." He paused for a moment. "But yeah, I can eat here."

"We need to see if anyone else got one of these," Lantern said.

Flash looked at them both with a despondently. "It really isn't you guys, is it?"

"'Fraid not," Lantern said.

"Bummer," Flash muttered and the three of them went to find J'onn.

--------------------

Bruce was bored.

The thrill of the hunt had survived only one party and not even the entire event. Once it was known that he was "out there" again, it seemed as if droves of women began throwing themselves at him.

He actually, despite the rumors, was quite particular about the bimbos he chose. He needed a woman who was not interested in him for anything other than his name, wealth and the bit of fame those brought but had enough of those on her own that there was no chance of her trying to hold on to them when he ended the relationship. She needed to be smart enough that he could actually stand talking to her for a week or so they would date but clueless enough that she didn't ask any questions or ponder the strange things about his life or, better yet, would simply dump him for not being there for her.

He was leaning against the bar, nursing a whiskey on ice and trying to focus just enough on Linda that when she stopped talking he would be able to comment. He had brought Linda to this event and had been seeing her for about two weeks. He thought that he could probably manage to see her through the weekend but then he really wasn't going to be able to stand it anymore.

What made it worse was Diana had visited the previous night after his patrol. They had talked for hours and made love. He had woken up just enough to know when she left, but he still had been a little disappointed when he woke up alone.

The stark contrast of the two women made him realized that if he was going to be stuck at a fund-raiser for whatever it was he was helping to save, he would much prefer it be with Diana than with Linda.

But that wasn't an option and he knew it.

Or rather, it wasn't an option because he had decided it wasn't an option.

The difference really was not worth reflecting on.

Linda made a face of recognition over Bruce's shoulder. He turned to see who she was looking at and saw Karen McCombs, the gossip columnist who started this whole mess, walking with a tall, red-haired woman. Karen, who was attractive in her own right, was looking a bit dumpy next to her companion.

"Bruce!" Karen called warmly. "There is someone I want you to meet."

Bruce smiled warmly.

"Karen, you know I love your friends," he lied. "Who is this?"

"This," Karen said, gesturing to the red-head, "is Emily Jones."

Bruce smiled for real. _I suppose Jane Doe would have been too obvious, _he thought.

"Emily, it is a pleasure," he said with the full force of his charm. "And how do you know Karen?"

"She's my boss," Emily said with forced affection.

Karen smiled at Emily like an owner proud of her puppy. "Emily was hired to focus on Gotham society. The paper wants me to focus on other cities."

_Just how many people in this town has Karen pissed off_, Bruce wondered.

"That's wonderful for you," Bruce told Karen. "And us," he added, smiling at Emily.

He felt Linda glaring at him and he introduced her to the two women. That seemed to be enough to pacify Linda back into her role as arm ornament.

"Yes," Karen said brightly. "So I am introducing Emily to all of Gotham society before I start my travels. I have told her all about you."

"I can't imagine that made me look good," Bruce said lightly.

All three women laughed.

"Actually, I would like to talk to you sometime about the philanthropic work you do," Emily said airily. "You seem to be involved in so much."

"I would be happy to help," Bruce replied, more interested in the vibe he was getting from her. Her interest in him wasn't personal, but it wasn't professional either. At least, not her journalism profession.

No one saw the gleam in his eye but for the first time all night, Bruce wasn't bored.

--------------------

**AN: **I am going to start alternative chapters of this story with chapters of "The Island" so please forgive the long pauses between chapters. Also, as you would imagine, there are many "Emily Jones" in the world. The woman in this story is based on none of them.

**To WL:** Thank you for the poke, my friend. I needed it.


	3. The First Movement

Chapter Two: The First Movement

Wally West was the most popular member of the morning shift at the forensics lab. He had never won employee of the month because of his strange habit of disappearing for stretches of time, but that was all right because everyone believed that Wally arrived every morning before 6:00am.

No one knew for sure. The security cameras - for reasons no one understood or bothered to change – automatically shut off at 3am, about two hours before the evening shift went home. The cameras came back on at 9am, when the morning shift started. Wally was always in the lab at nine and based on the amount of work he had done, most people assumed he arrived not long after the evening shift went home.

Wally actually arrived at 8:30am where he worked for 20 minutes at his preferred pace. Paperwork literally flew off his desk, samples were put on slides and identified. By the time the cameras clicked on, everything that didn't require a timed experiment was done.

He worked this way because he loved his job. He learned that as long as he pulled his weight around the lab, people were willing to put up with his quirks. In fact, he noticed that he got so much done in the mornings that some of his co-workers came in closer to 10am because, they claimed, there was usually nothing to do until then.

So, when Andrew Lantz, the technician on his first day, walked in at 8:58am, Wally was surprised but not caught. He always gave himself a ten minute window before the cameras were supposed to come on, just in case.

"Hi," Lentz said, trying not to appear nervous. "I heard you would probably be the only one here when I arrived. I'm Andrew. Andrew Lantz. You can call me 'Andy.'"

Wally smiled and put a sample in a spinner – one of those tests that took ten minutes no matter how fast you are.

"Hey, Andy. I'm Wally," he said focusing on his work but trying to appear welcoming. "I like to get stuff done when it is quiet."

Andy smiled. He was tall, Wally noticed. He had that round face and pleasant features which meant he would get carded at bars forever and everyone would call him "cute" and never "handsome." He had the lean build of a runner. Wally suspected, once he got his bearings, Andrew would be much more confident. The word had been that they were very lucky to have hired him away from his corporate lab position.

"I'm a morning person too," Andy said.

There was an awkward moment while they both waited for the other to do something. Wally realized that he should probably stop waiting on the spinner and show Andrew around.

"This has got a few minutes left," Wally said. "Let me show you around. You probably want to know where your locker is."

Andy nodded and followed.

"If all goes well," Wally said. "There will be a locker with your name on it. Whether or not we actually get so lucky," he purposefully let his voice trail off as they reached the door of the locker room.

He showed Andy his locker, which actually had been marked and left him alone to get his stuff stowed. When Andy returned, Wally spent the morning showing him the equipment and going over some protocols. Andy knew his way around a lab though, by lunch time Andy was doing things on his own.

Wally snacked all morning. In fact, his lab coat was full of granola bars and other highly portable food. But by lunch, he was more than ready for some more food. He usually volunteered to make a run for everyone to the nearby deli where he could order and eat a few sandwiches before coming back and eating his "lunch" with everyone else. Today, when the others were giving Wally their orders, Andy stepped over to him.

"This is a lot to get," Andy said. "I'll go with you and help you lug it back."

Wally tried to appear as if pleased by this friendly offer but he was frantically trying to figure out a nice way of turning him down. He was _hungry._

"You don't need to. I do this every day," Wally said.

Andy waved his hand in dismissal of the comment. "I could use a few minutes out of here. And besides, I need to know where this place is in case you are on vacation or something."

Wally realized he was beat. There was no logical way to refuse this offer. Between the food in his locker and the food still in his lab coat, he could probably make it if he a sandwich with extra meat and cheese.

Besides, there was no harm in being nice to the new guy.

* * *

Batman had missed the meeting during which they had discussed the letter to Flash. Diana took it upon herself to stop by the Batcave to get his opinion of the situation. As Flash had said "his paranoia would really be handy right now."

When she visited only on business, she made sure to wear her armor. It was a silent way of making clear the "business" and "couple" time. Since she was visiting after his patrol, she put on her armor for this visit. Admit it or not, he would be tired. They could arrange a date to meet later.

He was sitting at the computer. His Batsuit was on but the cowl was off and sitting on a space specifically designed for that purpose. On the large screen in front of him was what appeared to be a driver's license photo of a red-haired woman and some biographical information.

"Good morning, Princess," he said softly without looking at her.

She walked over behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked tired and there were some small cuts on his chin, but she knew better than to ask. He took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Good morning," she said. "Flash has gotten a threatening letter."

"Do you have it?" he asked, again without facing her.

"I do. I brought the original," she said. She didn't move her hand off his shoulder, but with the other hand, placed it and some other pages on the table next to his cowl.

"Did you bring J'onn's findings report too?" he asked.

"It is under the letter."

He nodded. Diana stood for a moment, waiting for him to look at the letter or the report. But he didn't. He continued to watch the screen and search for more information. She could not fathom how the woman could be a higher priority than Flash's letter. Unless she was much more dangerous than she looked. She took her hand off his shoulder.

"Is there some information on her I should take back to the League?" Diana asked.

"No, Princess," he said dryly. "This is Bruce's date for a gala tonight. Although as an example of how not to set up a fake personal history, it might have some use."

She suppressed her annoyance. Flash's issue, while perhaps not extreme at the moment, had much more potential for trouble than getting background on a woman.

"I am certain the League has experts on setting up personal histories," she said simply.

He finally turned to face her. He was studying her intently. She met his eyes. Finally, clearly getting the information he wanted from her face, he broke eye contact.

"Her history is just too perfect," he said. "It has everything one would expect from a personal history. She had some credit trouble in college, but straightened it out. She bought a townhouse five years after that long at her job out of college. She got a speeding ticket when she was 17 but nothing but parking tickets since. Everything about this history is appropriate and probable and very formulaic."

"So, who is she then?" Diana asked.

"Between this, her abnormal interest in the Wayne Enterprises philanthropic work and her claim to be a journalist, I suspect she is attempting corporate espionage, trying to get to the books through an innocent door. But it is a theory I will enjoy testing."

Diana nodded. It was clearly time for her to leave. He was working on a puzzle and he was going to work on it until he solved it. She wanted to ask about a date, but that seemed desperate and beneath her. She kissed him gently on the cheek and turned to leave.

"This really doesn't bother you," Batman said.

Diana turned back towards him. "I am more worried about Flash than Wayne Enterprise secrets so I would prefer you focus on the letter, but Flash is in no immediate danger and the gala is tonight so discovering her goals is naturally your higher priority."

Diana was surprised to see some amusement flicker in his eyes.

"That wasn't the 'this' I was referring to, but it does serve as a confirmation," he said.

Suddenly the conversation with Green Lantern came back to her. She smiled.

"That? It doesn't," she said. "Especially if it can help discover someone threatening Wayne Enterprises."

He didn't answer but continued to watch her reactions. She had not, when she suggested the plan to have Bruce Wayne date again, considered that she would be under Batman's scrutiny as he observed her for any sign of jealously, anger or regret. She may have reconsidered the plan had she realized it.

"You called her 'Bruce's date,' not 'my date,'" she said firmly. "When you think of me, I'm not 'Bruce's lover' or 'Batman's lover' but 'my lover'. As long as that continues, I won't be bothered. And if my title becomes one of those others in your mind, our relationship will end immediately."

With that, she left the Batcave.

* * *

"He sent a note?" Flash squawked. "A note?"

No one had seen Batman since Diana's visit three days earlier.

Superman nodded. Flash had gotten another letter so the League Founders, minus Batman, were meeting again to see if there was something else to learn.

"And it says?" Green Lantern asked, trying to get the topic to move from Batman's absence.

Superman looked at his portable computer. "'One addition to J'onn's findings: the paper is different from that used at either Flash's home or lab nor is it the kind used at the Watchtower. This is not a joke.'"

Flash, who had been eating during the reading started to choke. A firm pounding from Superman was required before Flash could speak again.

"He thought I wrote it?" Flash said, between gasps for breath. "Seriously? No wonder he didn't come. When I see him next, I am going," his voice trailed off in mid-rant but his hands clenched and made threatening motions.

Superman looked at Flash with some sympathy. "In any event, we have a new letter now, which based on the evidence has come from the same person."

They all looked in silence at the letter in the middle of the table.

"**I'm going to tell everyone,**" it said.

"I would suggest he hide here but if Wally West disappears, it only confirms this person's suspicion," Diana said. "I also would recommend he travel with a League member, but the only person I can think of would be J'onn and I don't think he ought to be away from the Watchtower that long."

There were silent nods of agreement.

"Why don't you hang out with me, Wondy," Flash said between bites. "It would be extremely good for my image."

She glared at him.

"Okay, but it might be worth blowing my identity for everyone to think that Wally West somehow caught your attention."

"Really?" Diana asked, doubtfully.

"Well no, but allow me to indulge in the fantasy for a minute."

He ate another sandwich in about three bites with his eyes closed. When he swallowed, he opened his eyes.

"Okay, fantasy over. Thanks."

Green Lantern frowned. "Flash, you really have to stop bringing food to these meetings."

"It isn't my fault! This new guy wants to go on the lunch runs with me. It's like he won't leave me alone. I am so hungry all the time."

The rest of the members gave Flash a meaningful look.

"Andy? No. It's not him. He's just trying to be nice."

The meaningful looks gained some intensity.

Flash scowled. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not an idiot. The first letter came before Andy started at the lab and I had no interaction with him or his old company before then."

"We should give him a camera," J'onn said. A tiny, wearable camera that could allow us to see who is coming into contact with him regularly. Then we could put together a list of likely suspects. A different perspective would help."

Superman nodded enthusiastically. "That is what we will do. In the meantime, I will keep a close eye on the media wires to make sure that Flash's identity is not sent out that way."

On that note, the meeting broke. Diana stood with the others to leave, but Superman looked at her.

"Wonder Woman, could I have a minute?" he said lightly.

"Of course," she said and leaned against the table.

When they were alone, he looked sternly at her. "What is our bat friend up to?" he asked.

"He believes Wayne Enterprises is being threatened by a spy," she answered.

Superman looked at her for a minute. "When we talked about his findings, he didn't sound right. Something more than a corporate spy is on his mind. He isn't going to tell me, no matter how close we are. I don't think he is going to tell you either but I think we need to activate your public relations role."

It was decided that there needed to be a member of the Justice League who could appear at public events when necessary. Superman usually filled that role, as he was loved by everyone. However, it wasn't always possible for him because sometimes he needed to be at an event as Clark Kent. So, it was decided that Diana, who didn't have a secret identity and was extremely popular in her own right, would handle that role.

Diana groaned. "That is a waste of my time."

"Usually, I'd agree, but I want someone to keep an innocent eye on him before he has some sort of dark episode. Please, Diana. I have seen him when he gets like that and I never want to see it again. I'd like to just nip it in the bud."

The concern on his face was clear. While her history with Batman was much more intense, Superman and Batman had known each other for longer and there certainly was a lot that Superman knew about the Dark Knight that Diana simply didn't. If Superman was concerned, it was important to investigate.

"All right," she said. "Where am I going and when?"

Superman smiled. "Tonight. We've been invited to the opening of the new Gotham Crime Center. It's a black tie fund raiser." He handed her the invitation, printed on thick ivory paper.

She looked at him sternly. "He is going to know why I am there. He is going to know I'm there to watch him."

Superman smiled. "Of course. Better angry than brooding."

She didn't return the smile. But they both knew she was going to go.


	4. Codetta

* * *

Chapter 3: Codetta

"Ms Jones for you, sir," Alfred said evenly and handed Bruce the phone.

Bruce took the receiver. He was scheduled to leave to pick Emily up for their date to the opening of the Gotham Crime Center in 15 minutes.

"Hi there, is everything all right?" he asked.

"Better than all right! Wonder Woman is going to be at the opening tonight and is apparently arriving ten minutes before the doors open for a press only event. My editor knew I was going so I have to leave, well, now to cover it. So, I'll meet you there?"

"Wonder Woman is going to a Gotham Crime Center Opening? You'd think Batman would be there. Hell, his signal light moved there."

"I know! I'm going to keep asking her that until I get a good answer. I think he's injured and they are covering for him."

"Show her no mercy, Emily. I'll see you there," he said brightly and hung up.

The snarl formed as the phone receiver returned to its base. He knew exactly what was going on. The Gotham Police Department had invited the Justice League to attend in the hopes of generating world-wide media coverage of the opening. The media-only event was Diana's way of "making up" for the fact that she told them she was coming at the last minute.

The reason why they chose to honor the Gotham request rather than one of the other million of requests that came in daily was just as obvious.

He looked at his watch. Even without stopping to pick up Emily, he needed to get going to the event.

It occurred to him that having a Justice League babysitter there might actually make the evening more fun.

* * *

Diana was indulging in a fantasy where she beat a reporter to death with the digital recorder she was carrying. If that woman, who did look familiar, demanded to know Batman's location _one more time_…..

But she smiled and took a deep breath.

"I don't know where Batman is. All I can tell you is that he is not on a mission representing the Justice League."

Diana had given an elegant opening statement praising Gotham for its new crime center. She made what she aimed to be mildly amusing joke about how it was so high-tech that it reminded her of the Watchtower and it had gotten a few laughs. She praised the corporations that had the foresight to help Gotham build the center but made sure to not say anything more about Wayne Enterprises than she did the other companies. In other words, she had done her duty as the PR representative perfectly. But the reporters had gotten themselves into a tizzy about why Batman wasn't there based on one woman's question.

"It is unusual for you not to know where he is? Is he injured?" another reporter asked.

Diana smiled and counted slightly to three.

"No, he is not injured," she said. "Let me take a moment. The only reason why I can be here is because hundreds of heroes, members of the League and not, are risking their lives to protect you, your loved ones and millions of people you've never met. Batman is one of those heroes. If you want to know where he is, we can head up to the roof, activate the Batsignal and then you can ask him all the questions you want. I am sure he would have something to say to you. Or, you can trust that he is protecting Gotham as he has done for years and as he will continue to do for years."

The idea of a few choice words from Batman seemed to intimidate several of the reporters and the questions ceased. She smiled regally at them and then turned to the communications director of the Gotham Police Department, who had been standing next to her.

"Shall we celebrate this amazing facility then?" Diana asked the director, who smiled back and nodded.

As Diana was following the communications director, she saw Bruce Wayne walking up the stairs to the guest entrance. He waved, but not at her and suddenly Diana remembered why she recognized that reporter.

That reporter was with Bruce.

She paused for just a moment. The fact that she was annoyed by this discovery made her angrier than the discovery had. After all, the whole thing "other women" plan had been her idea. He was only doing what she had told him to do and she knew their relationship was stronger than Bruce's with Emily.

So, it was ridiculous that she was annoyed by his waving at Emily.

It just didn't make it any less true.

* * *

Although perhaps not on the same level as he was, Diana was a master of strategy. So, Bruce was fairly certain that he would be able to determine her goals for the evening based on what she was wearing. If she had on the black cocktail dress with a low back that she wore often because she knew she would have his undivided attention then clearly the arrangement was getting to her and she was trying to catch his eye.

She was wearing blue.

In fact, it was a dress that he had never seen before, which meant that she had gone into her closet and just grabbed something. Designers were always sending her things to wear and she kept some of them "just in case."

The dress was the color of her eyes which was even more noticeable because she had pulled her hair back into a bun, leaving a few dark strands to fall and her eyes to appear even larger.

The dress was silk, knee-length and the skirt had a bit of flair. Probably a bit too casual for the black tie affair she was attending but with her nobility and style, Bruce was fairly certain that she could make sweatpants look formal if she wanted.

So, the blue dress told him nothing particularly useful about her state of mind, except that she had probably dressed while mentally drafting her statement to the press.

Still, he took a second to indulge in watching her while she spoke to the press but made a point of waving at Emily as he walked in.

It was all about balance.

* * *

Emily joined Bruce a few moments after he entered the room. The Crime Center was clearly not meant to host a black tie gala, but the organizers had done a reasonably good job making the place hospitable. There was a small string quartet but the music selection only accented the fact that there was no room for dancing. Waiters and waitresses were passing the majority of the consumed hors d'oeuvres and drinks but there were several food stations and a small bar set up along the open spaces.

Emily handed Bruce a glass of champagne and smiled at him brightly.

"Sorry about the last minute change," she said although her voice suggested that she was anything but.

"How did it go?" he asked, trying to muster up some interest.

"Really well. I will need to leave in about 20 minutes to write it up before deadline. So, I will not get the time with you that I had hoped."

"Ah well," Bruce said. "Duty calls and all that."

"Wayne Enterprises wasn't the largest supporter of this project, were they?" she asked.

"I don't know," Bruce lied. "I don't think so. I think we provided equipment, especially for the force, but did not actually give all that much to the building."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," Bruce lied again. Then he upped his smile a few volts and pulled her towards him, wrapping one arm around her waist. "You need to be in the office in 20 minutes? Perhaps we shouldn't waste time talking about my work."

She laughed coyly and Bruce kissed her several times behind the ear.

"I could come over after I filed the story," she said.

"Ummm," Bruce said and started nibbling her neck, finally hearing the newspaper photographers snapping some shots of their public display of affection. "I have a conference call with Asia tonight."

"What is this deal you are doing with Asia?" she asked. "You haven't been available much in the evenings since we started dating." He pulled away from her a bit but did not remove his arm from her waist.

"I'm not telling," he said in a teasing tone. "My VP of Public Relations has already read me the riot act because I'm seeing a journalist. I do not want her to do it again. She can be cranky."

"Oh come on," Emily said. "I'm a society columnist. I'm not going to write about anything you are doing, corporate-wise."

"Then why are you asking me about it? Believe me, it is only interesting to mechanical engineers and maybe computer scientists."

This was the moment. He drank some champagne while waiting to see if she was going to take the bait. If she really was trying to get some information about Wayne Enterprise projects, this was the perfect project to target.

"Because Wayne Enterprises is more important than you let on," she said gently, even putting her hand on his chest "And I care about you so what is important to you is important to me."

_And the Oscar goes to_, he thought.

He let some of his joy show on his face because he knew she would misinterpret the reason behind it. His eyes were on Emily, but he was aware that Diana and the Communications Director, Larry Feldman, were headed in their direction. Larry was taking Diana on a tour to meet all the VIPs. He needed to get her hooked on this project quickly.

"Okay," he said with false reluctance. "We make an airline engine that is the most powerful on the market. There is a small Japanese firm that has developed an engine that isn't as powerful but runs on a lot less fuel. My engineers assure me there is reason to believe that if we license the technology the Japanese use, we can make our engines just as powerful but use about half the fuel. They haven't convinced me of that yet. I'm afraid the new engines will simply not be as powerful. But the negotiations continue."

His story was mostly true. There was a small firm in Japan who clearly was hoping to be bought by a big company and make their inventors rich. But what no one had managed to convince Bruce of yet was that the company hadn't already tried this act before but their technology was not good enough to warrant the payoff they were looking for. Bruce had a feeling if the Japanese had developed something as great as they said, they would not need to look to America to find a rich industrial partner.

But, as far as a corporate spy was concerned, the deal had lots of potential. Simple stock purchases could make someone very rich if Wayne Enterprises did buy the Japanese firm. If Emily worked for bigger fish, the goal could be to get the Japanese engine and incorporate the technology in an engine first. Even if they developed an engine which wasn't as powerful as one of his, the savings on fuel would make it highly desirable to the market.

Emily did not have a chance to respond before Feldman interrupted with his greeting.

"Mr. Wayne! Ms Jones! I am so glad to see you both enjoying yourselves," he said warmly. Diana was standing next to him, smiling but was clearly thinking about something else.

"We are, thank you," Bruce replied. "Diana, good to see you again. How are you?"

He hadn't moved his arm from Emily's waist.

"I am fine," she said with the perfect mix of boredom and warmth. "Every time I come to a charitable function in Gotham, you seem to be one of the major sponsors. I fear for this city if anything awful happened to your company."

"If you are going to protect it, I think it is safe then," he said. "Have you met Emily Jones?"

Diana looked at her. "Actually, I believe she was very curious about the location of a colleague of mine during my press conference. But now we can meet formally."

Diana extended her hand. Emily stepped out of Bruce's embrace and took her hand with an unnaturally sweet smile.

"Please to meet you too," Emily said. "I think everyone was surprised that when we were told a member of the Justice League was coming that it wasn't Batman."

Diana's smile cooled. "Batman isn't a member of the Justice League. He is a founder but his concern is Gotham first. And while he is often available when we need him, Batman doesn't do media. Besides, I believe the announcement was that I was going to be here."

Emily blushed but Bruce watched her jaw set. Diana had caught her in a lie and it had annoyed her.

"So you and Superman do the media," Emily said, more as a judgmental statement than a question.

"Occasionally," Diana answered as a flicker of annoyance crossed her face. "The League does a lot of good, but it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the good work that the police, fire fighters, hospital staff and a plethora of others do without any meta powers or any international attention. If my presence brings more awareness to the work being done here, then my time is well spent."

Feldman was beginning to look unhappy by the exchange. Bruce was amused and was not trying to hide it.

Emily smiled. "Speaking as a gossip columnist, you haven't been linked romantically with anyone. Just watching the response of the male reporters to you leads me to believe you could get whatever man caught your fancy."

Diana looked at Emily. The cordial façade was completely gone.

"That is what you want to ask me?" the Amazon asked both angry and stunned. "I have helped save this planet from a variety of terrors and you want to know if I'm sleeping with someone? I do not understand why that could possibly be of interest to you or why you think I would tell you."

"All right, well, Diana, I'm afraid there are other people interested in talking to you," Feldman said and quickly guided the princess away before another word could be exchanged.

Emily looked at Bruce with a smile. "She is with someone. It would make my career if I could figure out who it is. Superman probably, right?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. "Em, you are right, she could get whatever man she wants. I doubt she has limited herself to just one."

Emily gave Bruce a critical look. "Could she get you?"

"I can't win that one. If I say 'yes' you are mad because I look at other women and if I said 'no' then you want to know why I am not attracted to a woman who is regularly called the most beautiful woman on the planet."

Emily smiled. "Good point."

She looked at her watch. "I've got to go to the office. I'll call you tomorrow and we can find a time to get together."

She gave him a quick kiss and left. He watched her go with a smirk. He had been right about Emily. She wasn't interested in a relationship with Bruce. But he was no longer willing to limit her objectives to simple corporate espionage.

_Let's find out, _he thought.

* * *

Diana was not sure what Superman was talking about in regards to Bruce's behavior. Bruce had acted exactly like Bruce. Emily could benefit from a new personality but there was nothing out of character for Bruce.

She completed the rounds with Feldman, who was a pleasant companion for an otherwise tedious task. He was funny, honest and not in the least bit in awe of her. Too often men seemed terrified of her and overcompensated by being arrogant. She supposed that by appearing, Feldman had gotten all he expected from her and he was just enjoying her company.

It was nice. She would be politic when needed, but it was often too close to being dishonest.

The tour being done, he had gotten her the glass of water she had requested.

"Do you want to see the rest of the facility?" he asked her. She had arrived in time to see the main areas of the Crime Center – the 911 response area as well as most of the vehicles and equipment. She hadn't seen any of the labs which were of interest to her, however.

"The forensic spaces would be interesting," she said.

"Oh, allow me, Larry, you've got a ton of folks to mingle with. I'll take her off your hands," Bruce's voice rang behind her.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne, well, all right then," Feldman said faintly and with a small smile, turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Diana turned to face Bruce and was surprised to find he was alone.

"Where's Emily?" she asked.

"She had to write her story on your visit to the Crime Center," he said. "So I am all by myself."

Aware that they could probably be overheard, Diana considered her next words. "With all the women who would like to be seen on your arm, I am surprised you decided to talk to me."

"My company equipped the forensics labs," Bruce said without acknowledging her comment. "I will be able to answer your questions about everything."

"All right," she said and motioned for him to lead the way. He did, making sure that he stood close to Diana while he purposely walking past the few remaining photographers who obliged him by snapping away.

Diana noticed it but said nothing. Whatever he was up to, he wasn't likely to confide in her.

Once they got to the forensics lab, which had been closed for the party, he glared at her.

"The recorders are off.. So, why did the Boy Scout think I needed a baby sitter?" he demanded. Direct questions were the best way with her.

She glared at him. "I'm not answering that."

"That makes it even more interesting."

She decided she was going to change the subject. She really didn't care why Superman was annoyed by his behavior.

"Flash got another letter," she said. "He's a lot more nervous than he is pretending to be."

Bruce frowned.

"We've set him up with a camera so several of us will rotate watching the video for common people."

"Watching every moment of Flash's life? Don't ask me to do that," he said darkly.

Diana glared at him. "I was hoping you would help investigate anyone we did find. I suspect there will be a lot of them to sift through."

"I'm not going to sift, but if someone shouldn't be there and is, I'll take a look."

"I don't understand why you aren't more concerned about someone revealing Flash's identity," she said.

"If someone knew Flash's identity, all the notes would have both names on them. This person has a few guesses and is hoping that Flash does something stupid and reveals himself. Flash knows that too. That's why he's nervous. He doesn't want to do anything stupid."

Rather than acknowledge the logic of that statement, she decided to switch subjects again.

"Emily is unusually concerned about Batman's whereabouts," she said. "I don't like it."

"I noticed that. Usually reporters are happy that he stays in the shadows."

"I wonder if a group is trying to determine the secret identities of the League members."

"Not enough evidence for that sort of conspiracy," he said. "But it is a theory worth exploring. Anyone tailing Kent?"

"He hasn't told me."

"Has anyone asked him?"

"Probably not," she admitted.

"Then do it," he barked "The tour's over, I've got work to do."

He walked out of the lab and joined the party again. Diana paused for a moment.

She hadn't gotten to see the labs.

And although he walked her past a bunch of photographers, he hadn't even kissed her goodbye when he left.

After making a point of telling her they weren't being recorded.


	5. Coda

Chapter 4: Coda

Andy and Wally were on what was becoming the regular lunch trip. Wally, despite his absolute conviction that he was slowly starving to death, was beginning to enjoy it. Andy was smart, funny and they got along well. Wally had to admit it was a relief to have conversations about things other than saving the world.

Wonder Woman had reviewed Andy's background and had cleared him. Wally had resisted replying with "duh" to her announcement that Andy was not the person sending the letters. It was good to have him cleared and he had said so. Something was bothering Diana but as long as she insisted on pretending otherwise, he was going to give her some space.

Speaking of being bothered, Andy was fidgeting and acting nervous which was beginning to drive Wally nuts.

"Okay, seriously man, what?" Wally asked as Andy looked behind him for what had to be the 26 billionth time.

Andy started a bit and then looked at if he was carefully considering his answer.

"You are going to think I'm nuts," he said finally.

"Wrong tense," Wally responded.

Andy glared at him for a second. "I think someone is following us."

Wally worked hard to look as if he was trying not to laugh but he was trying to resist the urge to turn around. "Why, exactly, is someone following us? Who is it?"

"He is staying about 20 feet behind us. He is wearing a red polo shirt and jeans," Andy said. "But he was outside the lab just reading a paper when we left."

"Wearing a red shirt? Not really trying to blend in, is he?" Wally said.

"Hey, he can't be good at it if I spotted him," Andy said forcing some humor in his voice.

Wally smirked at him but didn't respond. He was trying to figure out how to turn around to get this guy on camera without alerting the person following him. Although he was fairly certain that Andy was right – if they were actually being followed, it was by an amateur. And if Andy's twitching hadn't alerted their follower that he had been spotted, Wally's looking at him wouldn't either.

"Okay, the deli is here on the corner," Wally said, his tone suggesting that he was humoring his friend, rather than eager to get him on the little camera he was wearing. "I'll open the door to let you in and see if I can spot him."

Andy nodded and they walked the rest of the short distance to the deli in silence, both of them twitching for their own reasons.

Finally, Wally grabbed the door and pulled it open. Facing the way they had just come, Andy walked in and Wally saw their stalker.

Andy stopped just inside the doorway.

"Do you see him?" he whispered.

Wally looked. He did see the man Andy was referring to. Wearing a red polo with a camera around his neck, the man looked vaguely familiar to Wally. It took just a moment to place him.

"I know him! He works for the Picture-News! He's their gossip columnist," Wally whispered back. Then he paused. "I mean, not that I read that stuff or anything."

Andy smiled. "Oh no," he said sarcastically.

Wally relaxed. Society page reporter Matt Zimmerman was unlikely to be interested in the identity of Flash.

Wally gave Andy a friendly wink. "So, who are you dating that a gossip columnist is following you?"

"Me? It could be you!" Andy said loudly.

Wally entered the sandwich shop and let the door close behind him.

"Okay, I am invoking the 'he who smelt it' rule," he said. "You noticed him. He must be following you."

Andy glared at him.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life," Andy said.

"Deep down, you know I'm right," Wally said and went about placing the order.

When they left a few minutes later, Zimmerman was no where to be seen so both Wally and Andy let the issue drop. On further reflection, Wally wasn't sure if he was grateful it had been a false alarm or disappointed that it still was a mystery.

Andy looked around and seemed to relax.

"Wally, thanks for believing me," he said simply.

Wally shrugged. "No problem. As long as you introduce me to your model girlfriend's sister."

Andy laughed and they moved on to other topics.

* * *

Diana came to relieve Superman from scanning through the tape from Wally's camera. They were doing it in two hour shifts, running the footage through a facial recognition program. Any more than two hours and they were afraid they might miss something.

Or learn a little more than they wanted to about the Speedster.

As little as she liked taking orders, she thought it was a logical precaution to ask Superman if anyone had following him recently. She and Superman had not been able to speak since the Gotham event and he was probably going to ask about that and it did all tie together.

He smiled at her as she walked in. She smiled back and sat down next to him.

"Anything interesting?" she asked, gesturing at the screen.

"Maybe. That coworker, Andy, thought that Matt Zimmerman was following them. I ran Zimmerman. He's a gossip columnist at the local paper. We probably need to check his column tomorrow to see if there is an item that clears up why he was there. At the moment, I can't find any good reason."

Diana reflected on that for a minute. Jones was a gossip columnist too, but how many must there be?

"Has someone been following you recently?" she asked.

Superman gave her a surprised look. "Ah, no. Why?"

"Bruce has a gossip columnist who is unusually interested in Batman. Now, we have a gossip columnist who may or may not be following Wally. I don't have a secret identity and neither does John. You do."

Superman nodded. "I'm not sure people realize I have a secret identity since I don't wear a mask. Sure they don't see me at the bank or the grocery store, but I don't think that really registers with them."

Diana sighed. "It probably was too easy," she admitted. "Besides, the one in Gotham seems too interested in just about everything, except gossip."

Superman shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Or maybe you are on to something."

"Perhaps," Diana said dryly. She really thought she was. She was not a believer in coincidence and this current situation seemed to have a few. Something was telling her that there was a connection even if she wasn't quite able to make out all the pieces.

"Bruce okay?" Superman asked attempting, with little success, to sound casual.

"As far as I can tell," she replied. She had reflected on their encounter the previous night several times and she really couldn't put her finger on any particular thing that he did out of character. Annoying her was certainly in character for him.

He looked at her as if trying to read her mind. "Nothing little that he should have done but didn't or did do that he shouldn't have? He didn't act preoccupied?"

Diana furrowed her brow. "He clearly was thinking about the corporate spy."

The Man of Steel frowned. "He is always thinking about six or seven things at once and it usually doesn't throw his focus. If something is bothering him, he starts forgetting the little things. Then…." He let his voice trail off.

She was beginning to feel like she was a spy for an overprotective brother. It was not a role she should be playing.

"What? What does he do then?" she demanded, with more force than she had meant.

Superman grimaced. "Then he gives 'dark knight' a new meaning."

Diana's frustration was beginning to boil over. She needed specifics and examples and she wasn't getting either although Superman clearly expected her to help him stave off whatever Batman was likely to do. Which she couldn't do if she didn't understand it.

"What does that mean," she said, not trying to hide the frustration.

"You sort of need to see it," he said, looking at her intently. He clearly wanted her to just take it on faith.

She glared at him.

"Okay," Superman sighed. "He gets on my case because I see things in black and white." He waved his hand when Diana made a move to protest. "But _everything_ to him is in gray. At some point, as far as I can tell, things get too gray for him, the line between him and the people he is fighting gets too blurred in his mind and he, well, crawls into his mind for a bit to get it sorted out. It sounds passive and quiet, but it really isn't."

He stared off in to space for a second. "Look, Diana, it has been a long time since it happened to him and I don't really understand the how and why of the whole thing. I just know that if we can head one off, it would be worth the effort."

She looked at him critically. A thought had occurred to her.

"Have you ever been successful in that?" she asked him.

Superman paused for a moment. He wasn't considering his answer, he was regretting the past.

"No," he said simply. He shook his head as if trying to clear it and then stood up.

"Okay, your turn," he said referring to the video feed. He smiled at her.

She waved and got down to work. She was watching the video but it occurred to her that she knew why Superman had never succeeded in interrupting one of Batman's 'episodes.'

* * *

Recently, Alfred that he found himself repeating the same sentence. Phone in hand, he would seek out Bruce and say, in an even voice:

"Ms Jones for you, sir."

He would hand over the phone and then leave the room.

Alfred had come to accept that, foolish or no, Emily was going to be a part of Bruce's life for a while. He had noticed that while Bruce was not really interested in her emotionally, he seemed to regard her as a fascinating and challenging puzzle that he was determined to solve.

In fact, when Bruce took the receiver, it was as if he anticipated adding a few more pieces to the picture.

"'Mornin', Em," Bruce said faking a groggy voice.

"Seriously, did you wait until my car was out of the parking lot before you went chasing after someone else?" Emily demanded.

"What? It's too early to talk to me like I know what's going on," Bruce replied.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. The newspapers had finally gotten one over on the television stations. The photos of Bruce Wayne walking with Wonder Woman had been everywhere. In fact, one paper had gotten enough different versions of the photo that the Gotham Crime Center opening was mentioned in the Society Section, the Local News Section and the National News Section. The latter was because the local photographer got one of the photos on the wire.

"The paper, darling," Emily all but spat. "You and Wonder Woman chatting it up. Seconds after we talked about her. Seconds after I left."

"Oh, right," Bruce said, pretending to be finally catching on. "Alfred leaves the paper around here somewhere. Hold on."

He was still in bed but he had been awake for a while, reading the paper and gathering his thoughts for the day. Sleep might be hard to come by, but with available technology, working from the Mansion and getting some rest in, was not.

He moved the tray, which was loaded with breakfast and a laptop and turned to the bedside table where he had put the paper when he had finished reading it.

He unfolded the paper and looked at the photo. It was a good photo, he thought. Diana looked great, although perhaps a little confused. He looked like a cat that had caught a canary, which was exactly the look he had been going for.

"Oh okay," he said vaguely. This was the trick. If he was wrong about her, she would dump him on the spot since he was not going to apologize or make any excuses. If he was right, she would find a way to make it all okay.

"I understand that we had never discussed dating exclusively," Emily said, the anger still strong in her voice. "But really, I went to the newsroom this morning and, well, believe me; the others had a good time with this whole thing."

"What thing? I talked to Wonder Woman. I showed her the lab. Em, I am completely lost as to why you're mad."

"Seriously?" Emily raged. "You have no idea what the problem is. I spent this morning hearing about how you two were alone in the lab for 'several minutes.' What do you think my problem is?"

Bruce poured some chill into his voice. "I think you work with idiots. Not my problem."

There was a long pause. _Come on, come on¸ _Bruce thought.

Emily sighed. "I guess you're right," she said finally, her tone had changed completely and there was a bit of laughter in it now. "They are just making trouble for the newbie and I bit. I shouldn't have."

Bruce said nothing and waited a couple of seconds to tick by.

"Let's try this again," Emily said lightly. "Good morning, sweetie. You made the paper this morning. But how did that call with Asia go? I'd love to hear all about it. I am free tonight if you are."

_She must think I am the stupidest person alive_.

"Can we talk about this later? The time difference between here and Tokyo is well, a lot."

"Sure, okay. Get some sleep," she said with some disappointment. "But I want to hear everything you and Wonder Woman talked about. Did you ask her who she was dating? Did you get an answer about Batman?"

"I'm hanging up now," he said with more tenderness than he felt.

He hung up with a sense of victory. Now he needed to determine what exactly he had just learned.


	6. The Conductor Bows

**Chapter 5: The Conductor Bows**

The Watchtower had a lot of empty places to think at four in the morning. One of them was the commissary, which Diana had chosen. It was empty, but the staff left out some items in a cooler. She grabbed a bottle of water and sat down, staring out the window into the vastness of space.

She wasn't sure how she felt. Well, she knew how she felt, but it didn't make sense.

Emily had stopped by Wayne Manor unannounced after a night shift at the paper. Diana had been there – an uneventful patrol was ended early for a spontaneous date. Bruce had gone to "get rid of her." After five minutes, Diana had written a note to Bruce and had herself transported back to the Watchtower.

So now, she was drinking water and trying to decide why she was angry. And whom with.

Emily, obviously, but then, what exactly had she done wrong, other than stop by to see Bruce? Alfred, for opening the door to her? That didn't make sense either. Bruce, for leaving her to go see to Emily?

All of them?

Herself for this stupid idea to protect his identity? As if he couldn't protect it all on his own?

Her communicator beeped. It was the private channel Bruce had added that only the couple could access.

"Batman to Wonder Woman," he said evenly.

"I'm here," her voice was even.

"That was not my vision of how the evening would end," he said simply.

She smiled. "No. Nor mine."

There was an awkward pause. Neither one of them mentioned her returning to Wayne Manor. Frankly, neither of them wanted her to. Finally Diana spoke.

"Get some sleep. Set a trap for Emily. Get her out of your life."

"As the princess demands," Bruce said softly and disconnected.

Diana stared off into the distance for a while longer. She wanted to talk to her mother about what she was feeling. She smirked at that.

_Hello Mother. Remember one of the men whose visit home caused my exile? Well, we have a relationship. But he pretends to be a playboy so I told him to see other women. One of them is bothering me. I know he doesn't feel for her what he feels for me and he assures me that she isn't interested in him. So, why do I want to hurt her everything time I see her or hear her name? I mean, really, really, hurt her. _

She was beginning to fear that Batman had been right all along. They shouldn't have ever started down this path. Maybe she had discovered a fourth reason.

* * *

He was starting to have the dream again.

_His mother was standing in the foyer, dressed simply and smiling at him. He had just walked in from playing outside. She got on her knees and opened her arms to him. He ran to get the most wonderful thing in the world – a mother's hug._

_He was inches from touching her when her expression of joy changed to one of sorrow._

_He froze and felt his stomach knot as she said "Oh, Bruce," with a voice full of disappointment. _

_Then she disappeared, leaving only a bloody strand of pearls._

* * *

"Seriously?" Flash looked at Diana across the table. She was sharing her theory about gossip columnists. He was certain she had lost her mind. They were early for a Founders meeting and so Diana mentioned her idea to him.

"Your idea is that two gossip columnists, from two different cities, are trying to discover the secret identities of League members," Flash said without trying to hide the disbelief in his voice. "I understand the whole 'hating coincidences" thing but I don't think Zimmerman walking down the street and Bats doing the whole playboy thing with what's her name are connected at all."

Superman walked into the conference room and looked pleased to see them both.

"Actually, three gossip columnists from three different cities. One of The Daily Planet reporters spent an hour quizzing Lois on all things, well, me."

Neither Flash nor Diana pretended to be surprised that he heard them from the hallway.

Diana looked at Flash as if her point had been made. Flash rolled his eyes.

"Shock," Flash said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Someone wants to know about Superman. I don't even know what to do. This is, so, so, underwhelming."

A new voice broke through Flash's sarcasm. He was standing in the conference room and seemed to appear out of thin air.

"No one thought to do a web search?" Batman said with disgust. "Pathetic."

He threw some pages on the table and walked out.

Superman gave Diana a meaningful look. Diana saw it but was focused on the pages. She hadn't decided how to handle Superman's request regarding Batman. She was thinking that staying out of it was the best plan. Besides, if the answer was on the Internet, Batman wasn't far off in his criticism.

"The Society Page Writers of America," she read, "is offering a five million dollar prize to any member who can prove the secret identity of a League member. There is a one million dollar prize for proof of a romance between two League members."

She was right. She _knew_ she had been right. The pleasure of it showed on her face when she looked at Flash.

Flash tilted his head and gave her an _oh come on _expression. "They really do have a club for everything, don't they?"

Diana looked at the pages for a moment. "There is something we are missing. I understand why they might award proof a romance, but the identity? Wouldn't that be more of an investigative reporter thing? Why would they care?"

Flash took the pages from her. "We couldn't find this on a web search," he said defensively. "This is on the members' only page. I think Bats should upgrade us from 'pathetic' to 'sad.'"

Superman silenced any additional comments from him with a glare. "Diana is right; there is something we're missing. I can get the best access to the Society Page Writers but we need to flush out whoever is really behind this. So, I suggest we give them something. I think Flash and Wonder Woman need to start dating."

Green Lantern walked in to find Flash laughing and throwing his fists in the air in victory and Diana looking like she was about to send the Man of Steel through a wall. Superman looked a bit confused by the reaction.

"What did I miss?" John asked, a little concerned about the answer.

Flash looked at him with a huge smile. "I'm dating Wonder Woman," he said in a bragging tone.

"That has yet to be determined," Diana snarled, her face not moving from Superman's. "You want to explain this plan?"

"Well, we need a couple to grab their attention," Superman explained calmly. "Flash is already being targeted, so it makes sense."

"Even as a ruse, you cannot control my social life," Diana said.

It wasn't that it was Flash. She liked Flash. He made her laugh and they had an almost sibling relationship. It was the notion that her life, her _private_ life was being dictated by someone else. Diana would take orders in battle but not otherwise. And this was _definitely_ otherwise.

"I'm not that bad," Flash said, a bit insulted.

Both Superman and Diana ignored him. Green Lantern gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Come on, Diana, think of it as work. Besides, you aren't seeing anyone," Superman said.

Green Lantern tried to hide his laugh behind a cough.

"You have a better idea," Superman said, misinterpreting the laugh.

John relied on all his military training to speak with a serious voice and maintain a serious expression. "I don't have a better plan. And believe me, if anyone asks, I will make sure you get all the credit for this one."

Superman nodded and appeared content with the response.

"Just go to dinner a couple of times – both of you in uniform. Enough to see who we can get to surface. Stand close during a couple of missions. It'll be easy."

Diana tried but could not think of a better way to bring the threat to them, the way that Superman was proposing.

"All right," she said finally. "Until you dig up a name from the writer's organization."

Flash "whooped" with joy.

* * *

She knocked on the door of Wayne Manor and waiting, her spine iron straight and strong.

She had to tell him about the plan with Flash. She suspected he would find it more amusing than anything, but if she wanted the truth from him, she needed to provide it.

Plus, she just wanted to see him.

She knew nothing about the rules to relationships. She certainly didn't know what was considered acceptable or not in Man's World. But, even if she knew those, there probably was another set of again, unknown, rules for being involved with someone with a secret identity. She was doing what made sense and what was logical and reasonable. But she still sometimes found herself thinking that she was doing it all wrong. Of course, she thought, while Bruce certainly had experience with relationships, he didn't seem much better at it than she was.

Logic had told her that he needed to see other people to keep his identity a secret. She was certain that was still the right plan. But there was a small part of her that wondered if Emily would have considered Wayne Enterprises a viable target for corporate espionage if Bruce not been so obviously back on the dating scene.

Not that the actions of Emily were Diana's fault.

Diana shook her head as she heard the door unlock. Until Bruce was ready to take their relationship public, however she felt about the situation, there was not a better way of protecting his identity.

She smiled when Alfred opened the door.

"Princess Diana," he said. "A pleasure to see you." He motioned for her to enter, which she did.

Her smile increased. Formal and dignified as he may be, Alfred was a friend and a colleague in the effort to keep Bruce from harm.

"Good evening, Alfred. I'm sorry to come unannounced but is Bruce available?"

Alfred frowned slightly. "Master Bruce isn't expecting you?"

Diana paused. "No."

Suddenly she understood that frown, as short lived as it had been.

"She's here, isn't she?" Diana asked.

"Master Bruce is entertaining but he will want to know you are here, of course," Alfred said. He directed her to the study and then went to the dining room where Bruce and Emily were finishing dinner.

Alfred and Bruce had several code words due to necessity. Bruce entertained enough that Alfred needed innocent sounding ways to get Bruce out of social situations.

He opened the dining room door. Emily had moved her chair closer to Bruce's and they were talking too quietly for Alfred to hear although Emily's occasional giggle carried.

Alfred cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but there is someone here from the office who wishes to speak to you."

The "office" was the Justice League.

"Powell?" Bruce asked with every impression of being bored by the notion.

"Powell" was Clark Kent. Robert Baden-Powell founded scouting and was the first Chief Scout of the World.

"No, sir," Alfred replied. "Pinzón."

Vicente Yañez Pinzón was the first European to sail the Amazon River.

Bruce titled his head. "Ah, well then it must be important." He smiled at Emily as he stood.

"I'll be right back," he said and made a sweeping gesture to kiss her hand as he left.

Bruce's mood darkened when he stepped in stride with Alfred and the door was shut.

"Too many women to keep track of," he snarled.

"As you say, sir," Alfred replied. It was not the time to explain what he thought about the situation.

Bruce knew Alfred had much more to say on the subject but let it go. Alfred stopped in front of the study door.

As Alfred reached for the door, Bruce muttered "if she's gone back to the Tower and left me a note, I am going to go up there and….." His voice purposefully trailed off leaving the threat to the imagination.

Diana was sitting in one of the leather chairs, focused on her thoughts and looking every bit a member of royalty. She had wrapped herself in a cool air of authority, which Bruce knew she used as a shield for her feelings. When the door opened, she turned and smiled at them both.

"Thank you, Alfred," she said. "How are you, Bruce?"

He waited until Alfred closed the door before answering.

"What's going on" he asked. It was something just short of a demand.

She stood, walked over to him and kissed him gently on the cheek. Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly. She was working really hard to appear carefree, cheerful and completely in control.

"I wanted to talk to you about the developments with Flash," she said evenly and with forced humor. "Maybe I should make an appointment?"

Bruce frowned. He wasn't in the mood for Diana in full regal mode.

"You've already dragged me away from company," he said sitting down in the chair across from where she had been. "Let's chat."

"Some of us met to discuss next steps. Obviously someone is working through the gossip columnists so we thought we would give them something to work with."

Bruce arched an eyebrow, the only sign of interest.

"Flash and I are going to pretend to be a couple."

"Really?" Bruce said. Flicks of humor danced across his eyes.

"I wanted you to know before you saw any photos."

"Whose genius plan was this?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Whoever organized that contest wants to know identities," Diana said, ignoring the question. "The idea of a couple is only a longer way of getting to that same destination. Grab one member of the couple and force out the name of the other."

Bruce didn't say anything. Her statement was too obvious to be worth commenting on.

"So, tomorrow night, I am having dinner with Flash," she said. "It should be a short term situation."

"Ah, now we both have one," he said.

Diana looked at him, clearly surprised.

"A short term situation," he explained.

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

Bruce didn't respond. Again, it didn't seem as if there was anything to say.

They sat for several minutes, pride silencing them both. Finally, Diana stood. She had her warrior face on – her eyes and body betrayed no emotion.

"You need to get back," she said.

Bruce nodded and stood. He walked over and kissed her gently and longingly. Diana returned the kiss and left the room without another word, although her eyes were bright.

* * *

"Your Highness?" Alfred said, intercepting Diana only a few feet from the door.

Diana stopped and smiled at Alfred. Her time with Bruce had been bittersweet. Their relationship wasn't working. Diana's plan had altered it but neither one of them wanted to admit that. Diana didn't want to admit she was wrong. She didn't want to admit her possessive feelings for Bruce and she didn't want to admit to her need for him. She also suspected that Bruce knew all of her feelings on the subject but was going to make her say them.

"Yes, Alfred?" Diana said with interest.

Alfred took a deep breath and stood even straighter. "I should not be saying this, but I want to tell you that whatever is going on between you and Master Bruce, you need to stay the course."

Diana arched an eyebrow at him and smiled a bit. She knew Bruce would not be amused at Alfred's interference.

"I plan on it," she said firmly.

Alfred nodded and a faint smile played across his lips. "He won't admit it, perhaps not even to himself, but he is better around you. I don't know if Master Bruce can ever be happy in the sense we think of it, but he is, happy for him, with you. I thought you should know."

Diana smiled. It was the best she had felt in several days.

"This was my doing, Alfred," she said. "I will fix it."

"Then I wish you an excellent evening, Princess Diana."

"And to you."

* * *

_His mother was standing in the foyer, dressed simply and smiling at him. He had just walked in from playing outside. She got on her knees and opened her arms to him. He ran to get the most wonderful thing in the world – a mother's hug._

_He was inches from touching her when her expression of joy changed to one of sorrow._

_He froze and felt his stomach knot as she said "Oh, Bruce," with a voice full of disappointment. _

_Then she disappeared, leaving Diana's body, broken and bloody on the floor._


	7. A Wrong Note

Chapter 6: A Wrong Note

The photograph was perfect. Flash and Wonder Woman, sitting in a small Italian restaurant in Central City, having dinner, clearly off the clock. Flash was speaking when the photo was taken; he was smiling and his hands gesturing with his story. Wonder Woman's eyes were closed, her head thrown back in laughter at what he was saying. One hand was on her lap but the other was palm-down and half way between her and Flash as if reaching for him.

No one understood how an intern from The Daily Planet managed to be at that restaurant at that time. But she wasn't telling, not even under pressure from Lois Lane to spill her source. Because there had to be a source. No one got that lucky.

Flash and Wonder Woman looked happy and casual. And, if it was what you wanted to see, very affectionate.

The race was on to get a photo of them doing more than talking. It only took one picture of one kiss to be a million dollars richer.

* * *

Michael Takayanna had worked in Public Relations at Wayne Enterprise for three years. During that time, he had uttered one phrase more often than any other:

"We do not comment on Mr. Wayne's private life."

That was, of course, a lie. They commented on his private life all the time, but none of the nasty comments they said at the water cooler were ever going to find their way to a reporter's notebook.

Michael had just finished not commenting on rumors that Mr. Wayne was engaged to Emily Jones when the phone rang again.

He sighed and picked it up. The caller id had it coming from the local paper.

"We do not comment on Mr. Wayne's private life," he said instead of his usual greeting.

"Good to know," a voice replied evenly. "Although I probably know more about it than you do. This is Emily Jones."

"Ah, yes, you probably do," Michael replied. "How can I help you?"

"I need to know Bruce's schedule for the next couple of days. I am trying to plan a surprise for him."

Michael paused. He didn't know Emily very well but suspected the chirpy voice she was using was an act. He knew her mentor, Karen McCombs, and this was an act that Karen would have used a lot.

"I have no access to his calendar," he lied.

"You must be able to see it," she said gently. "Can you just tell me if he has evening events for the rest of the week?"

"Maybe his administrative assistant could tell you," he said.

"Michael," Emily said, all the gentleness gone from her voice. "I have been very good. I haven't written anything based on things Bruce says. And he talks a lot."

Cold strands of terror crawled up Michael's spine.

"A lot?" he said, failing to keep his calm.

"Well, you know," Emily said the light returning to her voice. Michael didn't know but he could imagine.

He considered for a moment. The fact was that lots of people could see Bruce Wayne's calendar. All of public relations, the board of directors, the event management team, the administrative assistants of all the department heads and the department heads themselves were just the people that Michael knew had access. There probably wasn't any harm in answering her question.

"Okay, just a sec," he said, defeated, and opened the appropriate file in his computer. "All right, let's see, kinda quiet the next few days. But Thursday there is a 10 o'clock conference call. Oh, that must be about the Japanese thing."

"Is he going to take it there or at the Manor?"

"Doesn't say, but I suspect the Manor."

"Okay," Emily said in a tone that suggested she was writing it down. "Thursday. 10 o'clock conference call. Manor."

"No, that's when he's busy," Michal said, attempting to clarify but she had already hung up.

Leaving Michael with the feeling that he had done something very wrong.

* * *

"Wonder Woman! Over here! Wonder Woman! What's it like dating Flash?"

A group of reporters were standing as close to the crowd control team as they could possibly get and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Wonder Woman was hovering about 10 feet about the crowd with Green Lantern, with their backs to the reporters, looking at the fire.

"You would think," Lantern said dryly, "that a chemical fire in a top secret research lab on top of a cliff would keep them away."

She said nothing in reply. She had gone to dinner twice with Flash. The first time had been fun. The second time had been completely surrounded by reporters and she had forced herself not to clear them out of the restaurant. Flash seemed to be enjoying the attention, or at least, not despising it. Diana was ready to end the façade.

Finally she spoke. "The obsession with people's private life is beyond my comprehension."

"People like to know that you are just the same as they are," John replied.

The fire was burning in a variety of colors, all signs of the chemicals and other technology that were burning within the facility. Flash was currently in the building making sure there were no people inside and identifying the chemicals. Once he was done, Diana, Superman and the rest of "team two" would enter the building to get the most dangerous items out of harm's way while Green Lantern put the entire area in a force field.

Diana looked at him with a mix of confusion and amusement. "I am nothing like them. It demeans them and me to force similarities."

John was saved from having to reply by a red streak tearing from the lab. Flash stopped in front of the floating pair.

"Nobody's in there," he said with a grin which quickly faded. "The most dangerous chemicals are in the southwest wing of the building. The fire is headed in that direction but you should be able to get them out before they explode. But really, they are going to explode if it gets too hot in there."

Diana nodded. "Let's go," she said in her activated communicator and flew towards the building.

When the team entered, John set up the force field.

* * *

Bruce sat down next to Emily in the den. She had been watching a movie when he went to get popcorn, but now she had the news channel on.

"I got a call," she said by way of explanation. "The League is handling a fire. Flash and Wonder Woman are there. Editor wants me to see if I see something."

Bruce handed her the bowl and sat down next to her. "What, in the middle of a fire, they are going to start making out?"

Emily smiled. "One can only hope."

Bruce expressed his doubt in a look but said nothing.

"All right, well, then, fill me in," he said finally.

"Some of them, Wonder Woman too, went into the lab. Green Lantern has the place under a green bubble thing. Occasionally, Superman and Wonder Woman fly out with barrels of something."

Bruce nodded. He hadn't gotten called about this one. The League had been giving him a lot of space lately and it gnawed at him a little.

But a voice in his head asked the obvious question: _would you have gone if they had?_

Emily snuggled in next to him, still watching the screen. He forced himself to relax and wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in a bit closer. Then he activated his communicator to the open channel.

Several minutes went by and it seemed to be under control. Superman and Diana were carrying out the barrels. Then, part of the building exploded and the chatter on the communicator increased substantially.

"_Anyone hurt?"_ That was Flash.

"_We're okay"_ Superman replied. _"It's getting hot in here though. We won't get these out in time."_

"_The shield is beginning to buckle,"_ Lantern hollered.

"_Drop it and get in here," _Superman said. _Now. You too, Flash, we need more hands._

Bruce snarled. He should be there. No one else had seen the option of using a helicopter to airlift the chemicals out of the b_uildin_g. Too many metas were there because they could handle the fumes. None of them thought of "normal" ways of handling the situation.

_Bulls in a china shop, all of them_, he thought angrily.

Emily, who wasn't aware Bruce was listening in, gave him a gentle smack on his leg. "Look, something's going wrong," she said.

Lantern removed the shield and headed towards the building. Flash turned and looked directly at the TV camera.

"See if you can follow this," he said with a cocky grin.

The red streak was about thirty yards from the building when the next explosion came. The camera rocked under the shock of the explosion as bits of the building flew in multiple directions and the roof exploded under a burst of green flame.

The crowd control team pushed the reporters back but the rubble landed several yards away.

So, the cameraman got a perfect shot of Wonder Woman flying out of the building, unconscious and being pushed by a burning barrel of chemicals. The focus was perfect as she dropped over the side of the cliff.

Flash turned away from the building and streaked down the cliff after her.

Bruce sat up and waited for something from the television or the communicator. Justice League emergency protocol meant no talking until the severity of the injury was established.

_Come on, Diana, come on. _

Emily had spilled the popcorn and was now staring at him.

"You okay?" she asked him.

He ignored her and stood, trying to control his urge to travel to the fire.

"_You're okay, Wondy," _Flash said in a tone that suggested she wasn't. _"Stop slacking off and get back to work."_

There was a sound of rubble and other items being tossed aside over the communicator as someone was digging for her.

Silence.

The television was back on the fire but the reporter from the studio was repeating that no one knew the condition of Wonder Woman. Superman and the rest of the team had been sighted.

"Bruce, are you okay?" Emily repeated. Again, he ignored her.

_It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened. She shouldn't have been in there so long. If they had called me, I could have fixed it. She shouldn't have been in there. It shouldn't have happened. I should have been there. _

"_Initiating emergency medical transport," _J'onn's voice broke across the silence. The time for a report had passed in silence. Again, protocol had to assume the worst.

The sound of rubble being moved became louder as if huge quantities were being thrown at once. Bruce knew what that meant and felt his knees buckle with relief.

"_Everyone okay?"_ Diana asked. She was clearly talking to Flash but her communicator channel was open.

"_We are now,"_ Flash replied, the good humor back in his voice.

"For heaven's sake, Bruce, you look like you are going to pass out, sit down," Emily said.

_It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened. She shouldn't have been in there so long. If they had called me, I could have fixed it. She shouldn't have been in there. It shouldn't have happened. I should have been there. _

Bruce looked at her without really registering her appearance and tore out of the room. He nearly collided with Alfred who had rushed to the room at the sound of Bruce's shout. It has been a horrible, fear-filled scream that Alfred usually only heard when Bruce was having a nightmare.

But when he grabbed Bruce by the arms to keep from crashing into him, Bruce appeared normal. And then Alfred saw his eyes. They were dark and frantic and unfocused.

"She fell off a cliff," Bruce said.

"I'm sure she's all right, sir," Alfred replied and prayed he was correct.

Bruce nodded but his eyes were still frantic. His mind was going in about 26 different directions.

"Of course," he said vaguely. Then he locked eyes with Alfred. "But if I loved her enough to be there, it never would have happened."

He gave Alfred one more pained look before brushing past the butler. Alfred stood as he realized what was going on.

Bruce Wayne was trying, unsuccessfully, to get control of his thoughts.

Alfred heard the click of the panel as Bruce went to the Batcave. Alfred closed his eyes for a moment and gathered his thoughts.

First, Ms. Jones.

Alfred went into the den where Emily was standing, a bit shell-shocked, holding a half-empty bowl of popcorn and standing in a collection of popcorn.

On the television screen behind her, he saw Wonder Woman lifting Flash to the top of the cliff. As she put him down, she smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze in thanks before returning to the remains of the building. Alfred felt a wave of relief.

"He was panicked," she said, confused. "Terrified, even. He barely knows her. It isn't his lab. But I thought he was going to try to jump through the television to get there."

"Master Bruce has had a lot on his mind," Alfred said smoothly. "I am going to see if I can't get him to rest."

Emily nodded. "He has had a lot of late nights recently with this project in Tokyo."

Alfred smiled. "As you say."

Five minutes later, Alfred successfully got Emily into her car. Then, he went directly to the Batcave. The Batmobile was gone.

Alfred returned to the Manor and cleaned up the popcorn as the sun continued to set. For a moment, he felt a twinge of sympathy for anyone who crossed paths with Batman.

* * *

Hours later, Diana was mediating in her room. She had been sent back to the Watchtower once the fire was out and was not part of the clean-up team, for which she was grateful.

She was nearly done and felt more relaxed and at peace than she had for several days. She made a note to be more diligent about her daily meditation.

"Wonder Woman," her communicator beeped. "This is Superman."

She uncrossed her legs and activated the communicator.

"I'm here, Superman," she said.

"Batman has missed his monitor duty."

"I don't know where he is," she replied, at a loss to understand why this was important. Batman missed meetings all the time.

"No, of course you don't. He missed his monitor duty," he said.

"You say that like it's significant," Diana said. "You miss them all the time."

"No," Superman replied with an edge to his voice. "The schedule changes and I get added at the last minute. Who, do you think, does that?"

Diana stood, feeling a mix of concern and amusement. "So, why didn't he change the schedule?"

"Exactly."

"Obvious he isn't answering his communicator, so I'll go to his office, you go to the Manor and let's report our findings in twenty minutes," Diana said.

"Fifteen minutes," Superman said and disconnected.

Diana stood, changed back into her newly cleaned armor and ran to the transporter.

It was not quite ten o'clock in Gotham. It was too early for him to be on patrol.

So where was he?


	8. A Key Change

Chapter 7: A Key Change

Although the rest of the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises was impossible to transport into from the Watchtower, there was a small corner of Bruce's office that one person could be sent to. Only Batman knew the code that allowed him to transport into the office facing into the room rather than the wall.

Upon arrival, Diana didn't need to turn around to know that she was not alone in the office or that the other person was not Batman. She also knew exactly who it was. It was the only person who could get into Bruce's office after-hours but had to be date-ready to do it.

And besides, no professional burglar would wear perfume.

Since Emily hadn't stopped rummaging through papers, Diana knew she had not seen or heard her arrival.

Diana turned around slowly. Emily was sitting in Bruce's chair, facing one of the wooden filing cabinets and was slowly going through files. She had clearly already gone through the leather in-box in her quest.

Diana fought the urge to attack Emily in the chair and decided that the reporter might actually have some useful information.

"Ms Jones," Diana said, coming out of the shadows. "I didn't expect to find you here."

Emily gasped and turned the chair to face Diana. Diana smiled as Emily's eyes widened in fear.

Diana had been right about how Emily had gotten into the office. She had walked to the security guard, explained in her best ditzy girl voice that she was supposed to meet Bruce in his office for a date and the guard, seeing her in a tight black dress and make-up that highlighted her beauty, had escorted her up, opened Bruce's office and locked her in. Hours later, the guard assumed he had just missed Bruce's arrival and forgot about her.

The Amazon took a few steps towards the other woman.

Emily said nothing, clearly trying to get control of her self. Diana refused to let Emily get that control.

"I am going to ask you once," Diana said in a voice that commanded fear and respect. "Where is Bruce?"

Diana strode over to Emily and put her hands on the arms of Bruce's chair. Emily cowered a bit.

"He is supposed to be on a call," Emily whimpered. "At the Manor."

"But you know he isn't," Diana said, inching her face towards Emily's

"He went nuts, because," Emily stopped as if she suddenly comprehended something. "Wait a minute. He doesn't barely know you. Bruce knows you quite well, doesn't he?"

In her excitement at this revelation, Emily lost her fear and sat up in her seat. Diana moved back a bit but left her hands firmly on the arms of the chair.

"That's why he lost it when you went over that cliff. Karen was only sort of wrong. He isn't hiding a true love, he's being hidden. You won't let him tell people about your relationship. You are afraid it will put him in danger."

Diana did not respond, so Emily kept talking.

"That explains everything. I thought he was on to me because he never wanted me to, you know, stay over, but no. He was just staying within the rules that you set up."

Several thoughts screamed for the Amazon's attention but she pushed them back. It was not time to consider the implications of all she said.

"He was on to you," Diana said coldly.

Emily's boldness faded a bit. "I'm still right about you two," she said meekly.

"I don't have time for this," Diana said and, letting go of the chair, reached for her lasso. She had less than 10 minutes before she and Superman were going to report their findings.

Emily gasped as the lasso tightened around her. The lasso glowed faintly.

"This only hurts if you hold something back or, Hera forbid, lie to me," Diana said, her voice maintained a sharp edge. "So, I recommend against doing either."

Emily said nothing but the threat clearly had an impact.

"What are you doing?" Diana asked.

"I'm trying to get rich," Emily said, angry and scared. "I thought about that stupid contest, but when Bruce started dating again, I thought I could get info from him. But he doesn't talk about work, so I needed to find it another way."

"You aren't trying to figure out who Flash is? Or Batman?"

Emily paused and the lasso glowed. Emily cried out a bit.

"Yes! No luck there, so I was focused on getting information from Bruce."

"You sent letters to Flash?"

"No."

"Who is?"

"I don't know."

Diana waited but Emily did not cry out again and the lasso's light did not flare.

"Who is behind that contest?"

"The S.P.W.A contest? I didn't know there was someone other than them."

"It didn't seem odd to you that they were offering money for secret identities?" Diana said in disbelief.

Emily snarled. "With that much money involved, I didn't think about it."

"Last question, did you find any information on Wayne Enterprises?"

"Nothing I can use."

Diana glared at her as she slipped the lasso off. Emily lunged out of her chair and flung herself at Diana. Diana sidestepped her and as Emily went from tackling to falling, she grabbed the Amazon's wrist. Diana grabbed Emily's wrist as Emily fell on her knees. Once Emily had landed, Wonder Woman squeezed her wrist and stared down at the reporter. At the pressure, Emily whimpered and let go of Diana. Diana did not.

"If you touch me again," Diana said, her voice cold with rage, "I will break your hand."

Emily tried to stand. Diana used the grip she had to force her back down. The Amazon wasn't finished.

"If I read about how Bruce and I are an item, by anyone, I will assume you told them. And I will find you. If I see photos of you and Bruce together at an event, I will find you. And if for either of those reasons, I have to find you, our talk will not be as pleasant as this one."

Emily whimpered again but said nothing.

"I am going to let go now," Wonder Woman said. "You are going to leave this office and not return."

Emily nodded. Diana let go and Emily ran to the door. When it didn't open, she looked back in terror at Wonder Woman.

Diana strode over to the door and ripped it off its hinges. Emily ran past her, as fast as her high-heeled shoes would carry her.

Diana was enjoying Emily's flight when Superman's voice came over the communicator.

"Wonder Woman," he said grimly. "You need to come to the cave and hear this first hand."

The grim mood returned as Diana returned to her corner and prepared for transport.

* * *

The police scanner in the Batcave was active when Diana arrived, almost explaining the entire situation on its own.

"We need an ambulance at 23rd and Elm," a voice rang over it. "We've got another present from the Bat here."

At the announcement, Superman grimaced and began pacing. Alfred was standing near the scanner looking very uncomfortable.

"Diana, we need to stop him," Superman said angrily, gesturing at the scanner. "Before he manages to kill someone."

"He's on patrol?" Diana asked, surprised. It still was several hours too early. She wanted to fire off about a dozen questions but the two men, who were normally evenly tempered, were edgy and nervous. It was not the time to get the back story. Whatever Superman had wanted her to hear was no longer relevant.

"No," Superman said with some disgust. "He's hunting. Something set him off and now Gotham's most wanted might as well have targets painted on them."

Superman looked at Alfred for confirmation and waited.

Finally, Alfred spoke.

"Master Bruce left the Manor two hours ago. He has not responded to my calls. The police have requested five ambulances to various locations around Gotham and have credited Batman for the condition of the patient."

"Where is he right now," Diana asked.

"I can tell you where the Batmobile is at any given moment, that is all," Alfred said. "And it has not moved for an hour."

"How many ambulances have been called since then?" Diana asked.

"Two," Alfred replied.

As horrified as she was by the situation, she was relieved to know he was alive and free.

"So all we know is where he is going to end up," Superman said.

Diana ignored him.

"How was he when he left, Alfred," Diana asked. She might not get all her questions answered, but that she needed to know.

"He seemed upset," Alfred answered blandly.

Superman growled but said nothing. Diana sighed. Alfred was loyal to Bruce and the butler was not going to say anything that might reflect badly on Bruce. Both Superman and Diana knew better than to demand more information from him.

But she had to try.

"Upset or angry?" Diana asked.

Alfred looked at her for a moment and considered. "Both."

"All right," Superman said. "We find the Batmobile and one of us sits on it while the other one tries to find him. Then we bring him back here."

Diana nodded. It made sense. As if knowing that would be the plan all along, Alfred handed her the coordinates of the Batmobile.

"You'll find him in the darkest part of town," he said sadly.

She patted him on the shoulder. "We'll bring him home safely," she said.

"See that you do," Alfred replied and attempted a weak smile.

She turned to Superman. "You sit on the car; I'll try to find him."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

She frowned at him. "Because he may be carrying his kryptonite."


	9. Intermission

Chapter 8: Intermission

They flew in silence to the Batmobile.

Superman felt guilty. He should have taken a more active role in preventing the current situation. Asking Wonder Woman to monitor Batman's mood swings in the hopes that a new perspective might have prevented the current situation had just been lazy. But whatever Superman's role might be, Batman was going to get a handle on these vigilante rampages he went on when something was bothering him. Everyone has problems. Batman didn't corner the market on personal loss.

Diana was weighing options on the best way to approach Batman. There weren't a lot of options. He wasn't just going to agree to leave patrol and return home. And forcing the issue wasn't going to help matters at all.

So, the plan she kept coming back to as the best one was the one she liked least.

They found the Batmobile, sitting at an angle near a fairly abandoned warehouse section of the city. The car was unharmed and parked so that its driver would, if needed, have five different roads to drive out on.

After that cursory inspection, Diana prepared to go hunting.

"I don't like just waiting at the car," Superman said, the frustration clear in his voice.

"If he comes here alone, it means my plan didn't work," Diana said, trying to sound like she thought that might happen. "In which case, you get a chance to snap him out of this. And, besides, you have better hearing than I do so you can monitor the entire conversation from here without having this on an open communicator channel."

"Good point," Superman said and hovered about ten feet off the roof of the Batmobile. Then, he cocked his head for a moment and pointed northeasterly.

"That way," he said and then frowned. "And he's not alone."

Diana nodded her thanks, repressing an urge to tell him that she could have found Batman without super hearing as she took to the sky.

* * *

It took her less than ten minutes to find him. He was talking, too quietly for Diana to hear, to a man who had clearly been beaten and was currently hanging upside down, tied in a Batarang which looped around the top of the railing of a staircase leading into one of the warehouses.

Rather than charge in, which is what she wanted to do, Diana landed on the rooftop behind the men and watched, determined to assess the situation before leaping in. Besides, if she wanted to actually make an impression on Batman, charging into to his city and telling him he was messing up was not the way to do it.

As she landed, she watched as Batman flicked his head a bit. She smiled thinly –he was aware of her presence. He paused only for a moment and then went back to interrogated his subject. She watched him as he spoke and saw how his gauntlets glistened with blood. The Bat was having a busy night.

She'd seen enough. She wasn't going to learn anything else by standing across the street. She flew down to him.

Both Batman and the thug looked at her but neither said anything. In fact, Batman looked back at the man he had been interrogating as if she wasn't there at all. The thug was looking desperately at her.

"You think she is here to save you," Batman snarled. "But you see, Wonder Woman and I have an _understanding._"

The man looked at her with terror.

"I think you are done with him," she said blandly. She was trying hard not to interfere with Batman's interrogation but based on the cuts and bruises on the man's face, she thought the conversation should end soon.

Batman looked at her without emotion. Then he looked back at the man for a moment as if considering.

"Not only is she beautiful, Henry," Batman said sarcastically, "but she has a wonderful sense of the obvious."

He took a small disk out of his belt and attached it to man's shirt. A small light on it blinked silently.

"Gotham's finest will be here in soon," Batman said with a dark lilt in his voice. "Probably before too much blood flows to your head and you pass out, but they could be busy." His tone grew serious. "Make sure you tell them everything."

Then he turned to Diana. She noted that he made sure his back was to Henry, as if to illustrate how little he thought of the man.

He grew even more serious as he focused on her. Then, without a word, he walked past her and into the shadows.

It was an invitation if ever she saw one.

She followed him as he led her quickly around the side of the warehouse and in the shadow of the neighboring building. He stopped moving and let the cape fall over his shoulders. Diana felt a twinge of anger. He was clearly planning on dismissing her.

"This is my city, Princess. Leave," he said simply, the rage barely contained.

"Soon enough. But I was asked here," she said, matching his tone.

"Not by me. And I'm the only one that matters."

She took a deep breath.

"No. I listen to the people who worry about you."

"Idiots," he snarled.

She glared at him. He was beginning to really annoy her. But, he had given her the angle she wanted.

"I agree," she said. "You are going to do whatever you want whether or not someone is watching over you. And whatever is bothering you, you'll deal with it on your own whether or not someone is willing to listen. So, I am telling you that I will provide you free reign to work through whatever. But if I find out that one innocent person got as much as a paper cut because you got sloppy in your rage, I will come back to Gotham and _I _will reel you in."

He said nothing as he continued to radiate boredom and anger.

"I don't have time for this," he said finally.

"Neither do I," she said and took to the air. "So don't make me come back."

She was only about ten feet above him when he called. "Tell the Boy Scout I'll be back for the car in about four hours.

* * *

"You made quite a promise back there," Superman said dryly as way of a greeting.

He was where she had left him – hovering several feet above the Batmobile. She hovered next to him and squared her shoulders, preparing for a fight.

"I mean to keep it," she said, letting the dare hang between them.

"So, your whole plan was to just, what, put your stamp of approval on his methods?"

"What should I have done?" she asked, bristling. "That would have worked? Tell him that I knew something was on his mind and that I was here to listen? Or smack him over the head and lock him in the Manor until he proved to us he was 'better?' This way he has his space but he knows it only goes so far. He isn't going to push boundaries to see how we react."

Superman arched an eyebrow.

"He won't?" he asked, his tone full of doubt.

"No, because he knows no one is following him around," she said haughtily. "In two or three days, he will be back at the Watchtower like nothing ever happened."

"We'll try your plan then," Superman said, with a bit of reluctance. Trying to predict what Bruce Wayne might do was a pointless exercise but he thought she should find that out on her own. "So, where to now?"

"Back to the Manor. I need to borrow a Gotham police scanner from Alfred."

Superman smiled. She may have a better plan than he thought.

* * *

She stayed in the Batcave to wait for his return. She had things to say to Batman that he would not want Superman to hear. She also knew that Alfred wouldn't call Diana against Bruce's wishes but he probably would just let her wait for him. That was Alfred – he would do what he thought was right as long as it wasn't directly defying an order from Bruce.

She used Bruce's substantial gym for a few hours and then meditated. She had been angry for too long, she thought. She wanted just a few minutes of calm before starting up the emotional battle again.

She had gotten herself to a calm place when through her closed eyes, she saw the light of the Batmobile entering the cave. She sat still, with her eyes closed and listened as she heard Batman kill the motor and then open the door.

"Reeling me in?" he asked. He sounded more exhausted than anything.

"No," she said firmly, opening her eyes and standing up. "I'm just one of the idiots."

Batman said nothing but feeling that there was no threat, he removed his cowl.

"There is nothing to talk about," he said. "I'm fine."

"Emily said you were upset by the mission earlier," she said.

She got a look of interest at the mention of Emily.

"I was. It was a poor excuse at planning. Especially when you know damned well that the whole area would be swarming with reporters following you and Flash for some hope of something. Which reminds me, how is that plan going? Did you put them all in danger for a good reason?"

He was going through his post-patrol routine and was not looking at her.

"It has yet to yield results," Diana said.

"It will never _yield results_," Batman replied quickly. "I should let you find that out on your own, but I'm feeling charitable."

"What would you recommend?" she asked, trying to match his angry and sarcastic tone.

_So glad I bothered with meditation, _she thought.

He didn't stop assessing the contents of his utility belt.

"I would recommend talking to the funding group, but you don't know who that is."

"You do," she said, resigned to the idea that he did.

He looked at her then, a mix of pity and something else Diana couldn't identify danced in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Who?" Diana asked.

Batman stood up, all pretense of his routine were gone.

"I want to know what you discovered from Emily. And the how and where of that conversation."

"She doesn't know anything about the contest. And I suspect that she won't be after Wayne Enterprise secrets any longer."

"And who is she working for?"

Diana paused. She hadn't asked. Emily was working for Emily.

Batman put his head down and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger in frustration.

He looked at her with a mix of exasperation and disgust.

"I'd hope one of your gods would have mentioned that taking a second_ to think_ is the best plan, but I've read the stories, so I know they didn't. So, I am telling you now, as much fun as it is to punch first and leave _before_ asking questions, it doesn't always get the results you'd hope for."

Suddenly, Diana felt like she was a child being dragged in front of her mother for some foolish behavior. "I didn't come here for listen to you explain how you are better than me," she snarled.

"No. You came here to let me know that you are okay in the hope that it would make me all gooey inside and the birds would sing and the sun would shine," he mocked. "No dice. There is nothing wrong with me. This is just part of the joy and wonder of being me."

"I actually know that," she said softly. "You take on a heavy burden. I do understand, Bruce."

"Well, then I am so excited that I can't find the words," he said bitterly. "But you are still in Gotham, so leave. I have to clean up your mess."

_I don't need this_, she thought angrily.

"I clean up my own messes," she said firmly and regally. "Which is the only reason why I am here."

She took a deep breath.

"However, you are so broken that anything I did to you goes unnoticed. And my time is too valuable to waste here."

And with that, she transported out of the Batcave.

_About time_, Batman thought as he watched her go.


	10. Second Movement

Chapter 9: The Second Movement

"Emily Jones, here," she said absently as she picked up her desk phone.

"I have never been dumped in a gossip column before," Bruce Wayne said cheerfully. "Probably though, not the way to do it if you are trying to avoid charges for breaking and entering."

Emily looked frantically around the newsroom, although, of course, no one heard. It was her own fault; she hadn't looked at the caller id.

"Bruce, you shouldn't call me here."

"Did you or Wonder Woman think that the reason there is only one security guard at a major corporate headquarters is because there are security cameras all over the place? I gotta tell you, I enjoyed the video so much that I have bids out for security cameras that capture audio as well. I would have loved to hear what you girls were saying. _That_ would have been worth the cost of a new door."

"You're not, are you?" Emily asked, horrified.

"Well, it was the first catfight over me in my office," Bruce said. "But, I would hate to miss out on another one just because they are so rare."

"Press charges, Bruce," Emily clarified, only slightly less horrified.

"Well, technically, Diana did the breaking. And, since you were let in, nope."

"Okay, good," she said, relieved.

"I do need to know something," he said gently.

She paused. "What?"

"Well, you were going to sell whatever you found. Did you have a buyer?"

"No," Emily said immediately and firmly.

Bruce inhaled deeply. "I don't believe you, Em. This means I am going to have to come down to your office and make a fuss about how you can't leave me. It'll get a lot of media attention. _Everyone_ will see it"

He could hear Emily panicking on the other end of the line. He knew she would be too nervous to wonder how he knew what the two women had said to each other. Lip reading did come in handy quite a bit. But he was going to have to back off; he was slipping out of character for Bruce Wayne.

"I didn't have a buyer," she said flatly.

"An advisor, then?" Bruce asked. "To help you with the stock purchases."

"Maybe an advisor," Emily admitted.

That was what he needed. In fact, he didn't even need a name anymore.

"Well, I guess an advisor isn't against the law. Bummer. My lawyers really want to sue someone," Bruce said vapidly.

"You know, Bruce, she shouldn't string you along. She either needs to come out about your relationship or let you move on."

"What are you talking about?" he said, successfully sounding confused.

"Wonder Woman. You are either a couple or you aren't. And she can't make all the rules. You get a vote too."

"Oh, well, you know." Bruce said dismissively.

"You are a lot of fun, Bruce," Emily said gently. "And you deserve to be happy. Don't be so afraid of her that you aren't willing to stand up for yourself."

He nearly choked trying to keep back his immediate response to that.

"You're right, Em. Thanks."

They hung up without another word. "An advisor" suggested that he was right. He just needed some actually proof rather than his feeling.

And he knew exactly how to get that.

* * *

Flash was sitting in a booth at one of his favorite places – a little hole-in-the-wall diner – when Diana walked in, right on time.

He waved her over and she smiled at him. He watched her for a moment, admiring the view. He didn't quite understand the whole "Amazon" thing. At first, since she was the champion of the Amazons, he had thought that she was so hot because she was going to come to the regular world (she could call it whatever she wanted; it was the "regular world" to him). But then, he had gone to their island and they had all been hot. Seemed like a waste of beauty to him. The only way he could make it make any sense was that there had been a time in history when all the men in the regular world knew there was an island of hot babes who would rather kill than kiss them and knew it was because the gods were punishing the men.

Total bummer.

The real story was on his list of things to research when he had time. Since that wouldn't happen until he was about 800, he estimated, he was just going to have to remain content with his story. He had asked Diana once why all the Amazons were so hot if there weren't any men and they weren't all gay but somehow, she thought the question did not deserve an answer.

She arched an eyebrow at him as she slid into the booth next to him and he realized he was probably making a stupid face.

"Hey, how are you?" he asked. "How is everything in Asia?"

She had postponed the breakfast date to a late lunch date because she had been called in to help with an emergency evacuation in South Asia. He didn't get called to join the team so he had spent the day working in the lab as Wally.

"Good. The mud slides weren't as bad as we initially feared and Superman and I managed to divert them away from the populated areas. When I left, people were returning to their homes and a team was helping to repair what damage had been done."

Flash nodded, which went unnoticed as Diana was looking at her menu.

"I didn't trip over any photographers today," he said. "They must not love us anymore."

"I don't think they could follow us. I came directly from the Watchtower. I'm sure you changed somewhere, well, private," she said, most of her focus still on the menu. Then she looked up.

"If you want to do this some other time, that's fine with me," she said.

"No," Flash said quickly. "I'm hungry and the company is great."

She smiled at him. "Good. I'm famished."

He sat silently for a moment. When Diana didn't say anything, he waved his hand in a "come on" gesture.

"This is where you say something nice about me," he said, jokingly.

Diana looked up and smiled. "I adore you. You know that."

"Well, I still like to hear it," he said evenly.

She laughed as the waitress came up, clearly a little nervous.

"Ah, hi. My name is Linda. Can I take your order?" she said at top speed.

Wonder Woman ordered, making sure she was friendly to Linda.

"_Batman to Flash and Wonder Woman", _a deep voice crackled over the communicator. _"You are supposed to be in love. Sit a little closer together."_

Flash looked around to try and find Batman but to no avail. Linda, who hadn't heard, looked at him expectantly for an order. Diana slid closer to Flash.

"_You aren't going to find me, Flash. Just order."_

"Oh, right, okay, I want two club sandwiches with the chips and a bowl of soup and, can I get the potato salad and the fruit and the fries? And, oh, a Coke."

Wonder Woman laughed softly as Linda looked at Flash, completely stunned.

"Ah, okay," Linda said. She took the menus and left.

"You didn't order pie," she said.

"He totally distracted me!" Flash said, making sure he had activated his communicator so Batman heard him.

"What do you need, Batman," Diana said, trying to appear as if she was still talking to Flash.

"_I need some proof, which means I need you two to make someone a million dollars so I can trace the money."_

"You mean…." Flash said, letting his voice drift.

"He wants us to kiss," Diana whispered to Flash, clearly thinking that he needed a reminder.

Flash didn't need a reminder. He just didn't want to kiss her. He liked her a lot. But like a sister, not like a girlfriend. She didn't get half of his cultural references when he spoke, she got even fewer of his jokes and she could get a little intense, to put it mildly. As much as he liked her, as much as he would, and had, put his life on the line for her, he really didn't want to kiss her.

It just seemed _wrong_.

He looked at her.

"I don't think there are any photographers here," he said. And he really didn't.

"_If you're scared, I can do it for you."_

Flash was looking around the restaurant, trying to find either Batman or the photographer he was referring to when he realized that Diana was glaring at him.

"You don't want to kiss me," she hissed.

Flash looked at her. "No, I mean, yes, I mean, happy to kiss you, great idea, but how believable is it if I just kiss you with no, you know, set-up?"

"This is our fourth date," she said, clearly stunned by the turn of events.

"Fine," Flash snarled back. He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.

"_Pretend you like each other," _Batman said.

Diana put a leg across Flash's lap and pulled him a little closer to her. Then she parted her lips when she kissed him next and made a small purring sound in the back of her throat.

Flash's instincts took over. He buried his hands in her hair and kissed her back, matching her intensity.

"_That's enough,"_ Batman said firmly. _"The photo's been taken."_

Diana pulled away a second later, pulling on Flash's bottom lip as she did. She smiled at him and the pair looked up to see Linda, standing with a tray full of food, quickly turning bright red. A man was running out the door of the diner as fast as he could move.

Realizing that he had had an audience, Flash's color soon matched hers.

Diana put her head down on the table and began to laugh. The laughter was soundless but her whole body was shaking.

"Hey, that's not nice," Flash said.

He wondered briefly how she had learned to kiss like that but quickly moved his attention to the food.

AN: I thought everyone could use a break from the angst.


	11. Sanctus

Chapter 10: Sanctus

Author's Note: There is a vague reference here to the "Lines in the Sands" chapter from my story _Blood of an Amazon_. I don't think you need to have read the chapter or the story for anything in this story to make sense, but if you want the back story in my AU, there it is.

* * *

"_Wonder Woman to Batman_," she said neutrally, using their private channel.

"Batman here," he replied automatically and then grimaced. He was sitting in the Batcave, reviewing his plan for the evening's patrol. Something was stirring in Gotham and he needed to find it and put it down before it got out of control. He did not have time to deal with whatever conversation she thought they needed to have.

"_It's Cadmus, isn't it?"_ she asked.

He hadn't expected that.

He imagined her sitting cross-legged on the floor of her room, having come to an epiphany during meditation and, in her excitement, contacting him to see if she was right. But this was also her way of letting him know that he couldn't bully her into breaking off their relationship. And that sometimes, she just decided to ignore his moods.

"What makes you say that?" he said.

He was long past of the point of pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

"_Every time we get preoccupied by something that is nearly nothing, it turns out to be Cadmus, poking us to see what we do. To try and push us over the line."_

He nodded. That was an excellent summation of the situation.

"Yes, it is Cadmus."

"_So, what are we going to do about it?"_

"We, princess?"

"_I would go alone but the head – Amanda whatever – has a thing for you and may actually pause long enough to listen to you."_

"'A thing?' You have been spending too much time with Flash."

She chuckled quietly. _"You shouldn't have done that. You don't give him enough credit."_

"He is a respected colleague," he rattled off automatically. "But like 85 of the males on this planet, he is completely overwhelmed by you."

"_Unlikely, but Hera bless the 15. But back to the point, how do we poke Cadmus back without it backfiring on us?"_

"That's the upside of dealing with a secret organization," he said smoothly. "They make sure they hide their accidents."

* * *

Amanda Waller's office was simple. Designed to impress, she sat in a large black leather office chair behind a large oak desk that had only a small laptop computer and a phone. The only paper to be seen was the small pile of paperwork she saved for after hours. When she left – which was several hours away yet – that pile would be on her administrative assistant's desk. It was a good system.

The rest of the room was impressive. There were two black leather guest chairs in front of the desk. There were matching bookcases that were filled with leather-bound books and photographs of Waller with important people. Her degrees were framed and hanging on a wall with more photographs of Waller with important people. The other walls contained abstract art that, if looked at carefully, were numbered in acknowledgement of their limited edition status. On the credenza behind her, there was a neat stack of files and a small cup with expensive pens in it.

She heard a crash outside her window and the wail of a car alarm and got up to look. Her car was sitting in the tree near the parking lot. She slapped the window in frustration and looked to see if she could find the meta responsible. Naturally, no one was there to be seen.

She turned to call security when she saw Batman standing in front of her desk with his hand over the phone.

"No," he said simply.

_My car was a distraction_, she thought angrily before fear washed over her.

She admired Batman. He wasn't a meta but he bested most of them. She might disagree with his loner mentality but she admired his determination to clean up Gotham. She was convinced that, in time, she could convince him that the Justice League was a bad idea.

None of those things changed the fact that she was afraid of him.

And although he knew that, she was determined not to show it. She stood a little straighter and attempted a smile.

"Is your friend going to take my car out of the tree to cover your departure?" she asked coldly.

"I know what you are doing," he said coldly. "It stops now. You have better things to spend your money on."

"I spend money on a lot of things," she said, waving her hand over the paperwork in front of her. "You need to be more specific."

She could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. After what seemed like a painfully long time, he replied.

"The S.P.W.A. contest."

"Well, I have to agree that it seems like a waste of money. I mean, we both know that Wonder Woman and Flash aren't a couple. We both know who she was thinking about when she was kissing him, don't we?"

He said nothing nor did he look surprised.

"Is that who put my car in the tree? Is that what you two do on a Friday night out?"

As the words came out of her mouth, she realized that her car had been a distraction on many levels. She had just confirmed her role with the contest by trying to bait him with his relationship with the Amazon. The car had ruined her focus. She nodded her head at him in acknowledgment.

"Clever," she said finally.

"No," he refuted darkly.

She refused to be baited again by the insult.

"Here's the thing," she said lightly. "There are a lot of metas running around with masks. I am not really happy letting a bunch of people I don't know with powers I can't fight running around nameless. It is my job, one that I think is critical to the health of this country, to know who they are. You know the saying 'quis custodiet ipsos custodies'"

He looked at her, stunned and disgusted a once. "I have warned you, leave Flash and the rest of them alone. Don't make me come back. The answer to that question is I do. I watch _all_ of them, Amanda."

Waller heard a crash outside and, as much as she didn't want to look, instinct took over and she saw her car back in its parking place. The car was dented, but Waller found herself thinking that it might be drivable.

She looked at her car for less than a minute, but when she turned around, Batman was gone. She hadn't heard the door or footsteps. He had disappeared.

She turned back to the window and as hard as she looked, she didn't see Batman or Wonder Woman.

_Those two are too good together, _she thought. She made a mental note to figure out a way to drive a wedge between the two of them as she picked up the phone.

If she was going to be visited by Batman again, she was going to know who Flash really was before it happened.

* * *

Diana was walking out of the shadows and towards the building lobby when Batman intercepted her. She stopped when he put his hand on her arm, but her body language made it quite clear that he either needed to explain or she was going after Waller.

"She didn't promise to leave Flash alone," she said in a tone that conveyed what a failure she thought this was.

"No," Batman said, his tone reflected his surprise.

But not only had she thought that would happen, that was to her, the only reason why they came.

"Yes. We came to get her to leave Flash alone."

He stared at her for a moment. "No. That was never going to happen."

Diana glared at him. Against his better judgment, Batman decided to explain.

"Whatever she promised, she wasn't going to stop trying to determine who Flash, or any other masked League member is. What we have successfully done is accelerate the process of determining who Flash is. The sooner we successfully put this attempt down, the sooner all of us with secret identities, and our loved ones, are safe."

"I could have gotten her to promise and mean it."

"No, you couldn't have," he said coldly. Then he smirked a bit. "But you would have trashed her office."

She narrowed her eyes at him in consideration. She was disappointed but when it came to dealing with Cadmus and Amanda Waller, Diana knew that Batman understood the undercurrents better than she did. She trusted him. So, she smiled at him.

"I would have felt better about this if I had trashed her office," she teased.

He smirked again. "It really is a nice office. She works really hard to impress people with it," he said, pretending that mattered to him.

"A little trashing would have been all right," she said with a mock pout.

Batman chuckled softly. "Next time, we'll find something for you to break."

Diana smiled. "We'd better."

He put his hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You'll find something. We need to tell Flash to keep his eyes open."

* * *

Less than 24 hours later, the call came. It was Flash on an open communicator channel.

"Um, I could use a hand here," he said grimly.

"I'm on my way," Diana replied and flew towards the transporter. "Transporter, I need the coordinates locked in before I get there."

"It is already done," J'onn replied calmly.

"How many and with what?" Batman's voice came through.

"Fifteen," Flash panted. "Guns. Pushing me towards trees."

"I'm transporting there now," Wonder Woman said.

"Take care of the 15," Batman said. "I'll take care of whatever is in the trees."

There was a pause while Wonder Woman rematerialized near Flash.

"ETA?" she said. From her tone, she was clearly assessing the situation.

"Eight minutes," Batman replied. He thought he heard the ping of metal bouncing off Diana's bracelets. "Keep away from the trees until I get there."

"Ya' think?" Flash barked.

Diana couldn't help smiling a little. Flash had been completely accurate. Where ever the attack had started, they were now in the middle of a park – at a somewhat hilly but open area near a grove of pine trees. Shooting Flash was only part of the goal, there was a real interest in getting him among t he trees.

Diana reflected the bullets as they came, but found that Flash's running to avoid the fire was making it more difficult to keep him protected.

_Well,_ she thought,_ if being on defense isn't working, it is time to go on the offense._

She took out three of the gunmen with a flying tackle and then swung her legs and hit another four.

She heard a quick cheer from Flash. The other gunmen were distracted by Diana's actions and he used the opportunity to snatch their guns from them.

"That'll be the last mistake you ever make," one of the gunman yelled at Flash.

Flash stopped. "Oh, if only," he said with a wistful smile and dashed off.

Diana would never have believed it had she not seen it. When Flash starting running, one of the gunman successfully grabbed at Flash, latching onto the lightening blot on the side of Flash's mask.

"Flash! No!" Diana screamed as Flash, clearly not aware of the problem, continued at full speed.

He didn't hear her and she heard the rip of the fabric as the red streak moved away, leaving the gunman holding the ripped mask.

Diana activated her communicator. "Transport Flash now!" she said firmly.

She didn't watch to see Flash running away from the battle to protect his identity or when he was taken to the Watchtower. Rather, she focused on the man with Flash's mask. She didn't know enough about the material to know if there might be hair or skin flakes or anything on it that might provide a DNA sample of the Speedster.

She ran at him, but he was prepared for her. Still holding onto the mask, he slowed her down by firing rapidly and consistently in her direction. It meant that while she still impacted him with quite a force, he was able to twist his shoulders so that she ricocheted off his side. A spilt second later, the two were facing off.

Since he was able to grab Flash's mask as he was moving, Diana was fairly certain she was facing a meta. He was tall, nearly her height, strong and clearly worked on his hand-to-hand combat. She felt a surge of excitement and prepared for a fight.

The two squared off a bit, circling around one another looking for weaknesses and obvious openings. It didn't take long for her to realize that despite all her opponent's training, he was not experienced fighting women. She felt a twinge of disappointment as she realized this wasn't going to be much of a contest.

It wasn't –he dived at her, treating her as if her center of gravity was the same as his, rather than several inches lower. She swung out and under his grasp and, as she picked him up to throw him into the grove of trees, pried the mask out of his hand.

She watched him fly into the trees with a twinge of remorse before turning to the others.

There were no others.

Once Flash had left, they all did as well.

She felt oddly empty, alone on the battle field, not having really won or lost, but holding onto a piece of Flash's mask.

She nodded her head and focused herself and activated her communicator.

"What did you find, Batman?" she asked.

"A net," came the disgusted response. "An old-fashioned net trap with some high tech additions. It was well hidden. If Flash had run into it, they would have had him.

That was all she needed to hear.

* * *

When Waller left her office that night, she found that someone had balled up her car and left the destroyed mess of metal and plastic in her parking spot. Her first thought was the Wonder Woman had taken out her rage of the day's events on the car as a message. But then she realized that security had never alerted her to the situation, which meant that it wasn't an act of pure rage. Planning had gone into removing the car from the lot unnoticed, deactivating all the security systems on the car and returning it at such a time and in such a matter as to not raise an alarm.

So, it was a message. But the message wasn't just about the destructive powers of the Amazon.

It was the tiniest demonstration of her strategic capabilities. That, with very little notice, Wonder Woman could get to Waller and no one would be able to stop her.

Not because of her strength. Not because Wonder Woman could charge in and overpower all of them.

But because no one would know Wonder Woman was there.

Waller was unable to suppress a shiver of terror.

* * *

AN:

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodies" has several translations, all along the lines of "who watches the watchers" or 'who guards the guards"


	12. Chorus

Chapter 11: Chorus

Flash materialized in the Watchtower and stood for a moment on the platform staring off into the empty room.

_Where was everyone?_

It didn't matter. He needed a minute alone anyway. He was off his game. He shouldn't have needed to call in back-up. He still didn't know what was in among the trees, but what really were the chances it was a danger he couldn't handle?

But even if it was something real and scary in the forest, he still didn't know who was trying to discover his identity. Diana had told him it was Cadmus, but that was too many people. He wanted specifics. He wanted names and faces of the people looking for him.

And, assuming they pulled a rabbit out of his hat and they managed to figure out the people pulling the strings and stop them, at some point, he was going to have to "break-up" with Diana. He suspected she would want it to be loud and public and violent.

He groaned at the possibilities. All of them.

He shook his head as if that would remove the funk from his thoughts. He dealt with serious things all the time, ones that were frankly more serious than his current situation, and had maintained his famous sense of humor.

He knew what the problem was. The problem was that usually there was something he could do about the situation other than have fake dates and avoid gunmen and pine trees. And he wasn't protecting anyone but himself. He hated it. He was running and hiding and plotting and thinking and a billion other things to protect his own hide. There was no glory or pleasure in it. It wasn't as if there would never be another person trying to figure out his identity. This current group trying to unmask him just seemed unusually organized and determined.

He grimaced. It was like doing the laundry. Sure, you got a few loads done but there was more waiting for you. Always and forever.

He needed to do something worthwhile. The chemical fire had seemed like a million years ago. He needed to dispense some justice.

Well, he was in the Watchtower and he didn't need to be home for a while. Maybe there was a mission he could volunteer for.

He stepped off the platform with a new sense of purpose. He would go to his room, get a new uniform and see who needed saving.

Flash's room was one of the smallest on the Watchtower on the section of the Watchtower that was furthest from everything. He knew he would almost never be staying there, but he needed a place to store some uniforms so he didn't want to take a quality room from someone. Besides, if there was anyone who didn't really care if the room was far away, it was Flash. So, basically, the room was a cot for the rare night he did want to sleep on the tower and a closet full of uniforms in the section of the Tower jokingly referred to "The Outback."

So, when he saw several people standing in front of his door, he was surprised. It was a first.

Then when he saw Green Arrow among them, he had a sinking feeling.

He cleared his throat loudly and Green Arrow and the others turned. Flash realized that Arrow was the only one he recognized. He swore to himself that he would make a real effort to learn the names of the new members.

"Flash!" Green Arrow called out warmly. "How are you?" Then he laughed. "I don't need to ask that, do I?"

Flash smiled. "I'm okay," he said guardedly.

His door was plastered with every newspaper photo of him and Wonder Woman together and several famous couples with the heads replaced. There was the "Gone with the Wind" poster, the photo "The Kiss," the beach scene from "From Here to Eternity," the spaghetti still from "Lady and the Tramp" all with his and Diana's head on the bodies. They were badly done and since he knew there were at least a dozen people on the Tower who could have done a flawless Photoshop job, he figured part of the joke was the poor craftsmanship.

He couldn't help it. He laughed. He was sure he ought to be offended or embarrassed or something but it was just funny.

"Oh," he said, "you know then." He changed his voice to a dreamy tone, making sure his body language matched the look of a love-struck school boy. "But you really don't know. I am lost in a sea of love and light."

"I would imagine, "Arrow said lightly. "Seeing as she apparently ripped your clothes off."

Flash's tone became protective. "Hey now. That's Diana you're talking about."

Green Arrow looked at him for a moment and then laughed again. "I would never dare insult Diana. More because of her reaction than yours."

Flash nodded his understanding and then made a shooing motion at Arrow and everyone else at the door.

"Scurry along now," he said. "Flash the Great needs to get dressed."

There was some chuckling but the crowd did disperse. Moments later, Flash had a new mask on and he went in search of some action.

* * *

Bruce looked over the rim of his coffee cup and observed Alfred. The man was tired but content as he went about dishing breakfast. Bruce smiled. _Good._

"Since you're done updating it, I need to borrow your album," Bruce said casually.

Alfred paused for a spilt second and didn't look at Bruce.

"Album, sir?"

"You know damned well what I'm talking about," Bruce said with a sternness he didn't feel. "The one that ought to get you fired."

Bruce was sure that the old man smiled quickly but when Alfred finally turned, his face held its usual blank expression.

"Of course, sir. Would you like it now?"

"Yes, thank you, Alfred," Bruce said simply. "I need to confirm my memory."

Alfred arched an eyebrow. "Indeed, sir?"

Bruce sent back a look that should have ended the conversation. "Indeed."

"May I inquire-" Alfred began.

"No," Bruce cut in. "I feel fine. My memory is fine. I am confirming the record. Don't read into this. Get the godforsaken book, Alfred."

"Of course, sir," Alfred replied and left the room.

During the few moments until Alfred returned, Bruce found himself wondering when he lost control over the Manor, assuming, for argument's sake, he had ever had it.

Alfred returned a few moments later with a leather bound album. He handed it to Bruce without a word. Bruce smiled his thanks and quickly flipped through the pages.

"I should make you burn this," he said, reviewing the pages.

"And deny an old man his one pleasure, sir?" Alfred said drolly.

Bruce expressed his thoughts on that with a look. Finished with his review, he flipped the book shut and handed it to Alfred.

"Thank you. Keep it hidden."

Alfred looked at him and smiled. "Can you find it, sir?"

Alfred had caught him. "No," he admitted.

"Then I should say I do, sir."

Bruce smiled as Alfred left the room with his book.

Emily, in her way, had been right.


	13. Soloist

Chapter 12: Soloist

Flash walked to the commissary a happy person. He had three hours before he was due at the lab and he had just, in his humble opinion, saved the world.

Okay, well what he had really done was helped distribute food, water and other supplies to people cut off by a land slide and then help move the dirt, trees and other debris that was blocking the path. But he had helped people and he felt good about it.

There was time for a snack and a nap and off to work to save his city from crime.

He was about ten feet from the commissary when he heard a voice from nowhere.

"You're an idiot," it said, matter-of-factly.

Flash stopped and rolled his eyes before turning towards the voice. He put his hands out, palm-up in a gesture of confusion.

"That doesn't really narrow it down, Bats," he said brightly.

Batman stepped out of the shadows. Flash thought for a moment that the Watchtower needed to be redesigned as a shadow-free building.

"They have a list of three possible people who are probably the Flash," Batman said darkly. "And Wally West is on the list."

Flash stood quietly as he let that knowledge wash over him.

"You are the least famous person on the planet and yet, you drew attention to yourself," Batman said with disgust and disappointment.

Flash smiled. "This means I am not the least famous person on the planet."

Flash had received enough Batglares that they didn't have the impact they once did but this one did provide a reality check for the Speedster. He realized he was tired and frustrated and had had more fun helping out landslide victims than he had for a while.

"You know what, I don't care, Bats. If they figure out it's me, than I move up here and have a Flash-only existence."

Again, a glare.

"The glare really doesn't say as much as you would like it to," Flash said finally.

"It isn't just you. If they figure out they can find one of us, they'll try for us all. You don't get to make that decision for all of us."

Flash snarled slightly. Bats' paranoid streak had a logical side.

"So, what's the plan? What do I do?"

"You tried it your way and it failed spectacularly on all levels. We are doing it my way now. Which means you just nod and smile."

Flash smiled and nodded, making it quite clear that he wanted to do the opposite.

"Close enough," Batman said and walked away.

"I know you're angry because you care," Flash called after him.

Batman acted as if he hadn't heard.

Flash continued on his way. His mind might be full but his stomach was empty.

* * *

Michael Takayanna's phone rang. He looked at the caller id and realized it was an internal extension. He felt like he should recognize it, but he didn't. He picked it up.

"This is Michael," he said.

"Michael, how are you?" Bruce Wayne's voice said.

_Oh great_, Michael thought. _What does he want?_

"Fine, sir. And yourself?"

"Oh, great. So, hey, I have a question. You don't comment on my love life, right?"

"No sir," Michael said. "Wayne Enterprises does not comment on the personal life of Bruce Wayne."

"Okay, great. But what if I wanted you to?"

_Seriously?_ Michael thought, dreading what his answer was.

"No, sir. You would need to hire a personal media relations person for that."

There was a pause during which Michael suppressed his flight instinct.

"I have an army of public relations people there and none of you, _with my permission_, will comment on my personal life?" Bruce's voice was slightly shocked.

"Well, sir, the thing is that Wayne Enterprises has, as you said, 'an army of public relations people.' We comment on Wayne Enterprise matters and your personal life is not among them.

There was a small snort of laughter. "I can get a room full of vice presidents who will assure me that the tie I wear has a major impact on the stock price."

Michael decided if the inane rich boy was going to get fired, Michael would leave with his integrity intact.

"Perhaps, but our department would not comment on the tie."

There was another chuckle. "I actually have great taste in ties."

Michael didn't respond. It wasn't a comment that warranted one.

Bruce continued. "I was afraid you'd say that. Now I owe your boss dinner. But, the good news is, I have been talking to her and she assures me that I can borrow you for a couple of weeks with a small project. So, I am firing you and hiring you in one step."

"Sir?"

"Yeah, the press release about that will go out in about an hour. Someone will be there in a few minutes with some background information. Read up on it and be ready to just comment your lips off when the calls come in."

Michael looked up just as Bruce Wayne's administration assistant dropped a manila file on his desk. Inside the file were copies of clippings of columns and photographs of Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman together. The pile was about half an inch thick.

"Are you suggesting-" Michael began.

"Hope the copies are okay. Do me a favor though – don't let them get out. Alfred would be really annoyed if he knew I had made them. Oh, and come by my office tomorrow early, like 11, and you can wow me with your thoughts."

Bruce Wayne hung up before Michael's brain could construct an answer. He looked through the copies.

_Who's Alfred? _he wondered.

* * *

Three days later, Wally watched as an exhausted Andy dragged himself into the lab.

"Man, what happened to you?" Wally asked.

"Didn't you watch the news?" Andy asked, a little stunned. "It happened right around my apartment building"

Wally stared at him for a moment blankly.

"Okay, I don't watch it either. Hold on," Andy said walking to a computer. "I'm sure it is online."

It took just a moment until Andy had downloaded the local television news broadcast of Wonder Woman, with tears running down her face, walking away from an apartment building surrounded by a group of Central City police officers. A female officer had an arm wrapped around her shoulders and seemed to be trying to calm her down. Diana would nod at what the officer was saying and then look back at the building as if she was expecting someone and then, bow her head in sadness when no one came. Wally felt a rise of anger. Someone was going to have to pay for reducing Diana to a sobbing mess.

He could not imagine what it would take for her to break down like that. He panicked. Was someone dead? No, he would have been told. Then, he realized there was a voice reporting on the story.

The anchor was explaining that apparently Central City's Flash was back on the dating scene after dumping Wonder Woman in what was a loud but nonphysical confrontation between the two.

Wally was glad that he didn't have to hide his shock and surprise. He did, however, have to keep from activating his communicator and demanding to know what was going on.

He looked at Andy after the clip was finished.

"Yeah, at like 9, I hear her yelling," Andy said. "She's saying that she tired of not going out and being a public couple and he doesn't understand her or pay attention to her and whatever. So, I guess someone calls the police and they come and the news trucks show up and she's crying and telling him she can do better than him and he'll want her back and, you know, dumped person stuff, and before the police really have time to get in there, she flies down from the room and walks away, muttering about what a jerk Flash is and how men pretty much suck. It happened like right outside my window. I think she was on the roof of my building. Why they would break up there, I don't know."

"No idea, man," Wally agreed.

Andy continued. "So, the police wander around and get statements from all of us and the news crews are interviewing people and I swear it was like midnight before everyone left and I was wired. I always thought Flash was cool but he thinks he can do better than Wonder Woman? Man, he rocks!"

"But you never saw Flash?" Wally asked.

Andy considered for a moment. "No, but she was clearly talking to him. She kept saying 'Flash' and she was definitely having a conversation with someone. And she was upset. She _did not_ see that coming."

Wally was about to excuse himself and go to the Watchtower to see what was going on, when a field team came in with a pile of samples that needed to be processed immediately. It was late that night before Wally left the lab and although he knew there was something he wanted to find out, the desire to sleep was stronger than his desire to remember what had been bugging him earlier.


	14. A Deceptive Cadence

Chapter 13: A Deceptive Cadence

The invitation was formal and expensive and lying on her pillow when she returned from a workout. The Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation requested the honor of her presence at a cocktail reception and fundraiser for Gotham General Hospital. The event was in two days.

Diana held the invitation in her hand and considered it.

He was up to something, of course.

She activated her communicator. "J'onn," she said warmly.

"Yes, Wonder Woman," the Martian responded quickly.

"What is my listed status on Friday," she asked.

"According to the schedule you have been assigned to a mission team on Friday. I can't seem to find a record of the mission though," There was a pause as J'onn investigated further. "It is strange though. I thought you were on monitor duty on Friday night but apparently Superman is."

"Thanks J'onn, that is what I needed to know," she said, suppressing a laugh and turned off the communicator.

She turned the invitation over in her hand as if it would provide her a clue. She knew asking him about it would be pointless, he would simply not answer her. She could say that she couldn't go but then she wouldn't know what he was up to and she wanted to know. And it wasn't her style to call and say she could not attend the reception in order to see what he did.

She sent Hera a silent prayer for strength. Then she put the invitation on her bedside table and went to her closet to see what she would wear.

* * *

"Clark Kent on the phone for you, sir," Alfred said, carrying the wireless handset with him.

Bruce, who had been reading over the final details of Friday's cocktail party looked up from this desk.

"You told him I was here?" Bruce said, a little surprised.

"Well, you are, sir," Alfred pointed out. "And I don't want to lie to Mister Kent."

Bruce sighed loudly and reached for the phone. "Lie to everyone, Alfred. It's easier."

Alfred said nothing but handed Bruce the phone. "Of course, sir," he said softly and walked out the door.

"How are you, Clark?" Bruce said lightly. He knew full well that Clark had heard the exchange between him and Alfred but he didn't care.

"What are you up to?" Clark demanded, in a very non-Clark Kent tone.

Bruce sat up. "Where are you calling me from?" he shot back in a very non-Bruce Wayne tone.

"My apartment. The land line."

Bruce relaxed. Bruce had overseen the security on the phone line in Kent's apartment. It was the safest place in Metropolis for him to call.

"In any event, I don't know what you are talking about."

Clark made a sound that was a mix of a disgusted sigh and an angry snarl.

"You hired a guy away from Wayne Enterprises public relations to be your own personal public relations person for, and I am quoting from your own release here, 'a short-term project.' What exactly is that short-term project?"

"You'll have to wait and learn it with all the other media folks, Clark," Bruce said, returning to his Bruce Wayne tone and speech pattern. He did it mostly because he knew it annoyed Clark.

"I have a feeling that I need to know about this sooner than everyone else," Clark said.

"No, you don't. Go through the challenges. Talk to Michael."

"Oh, I've talked to him. He doesn't have the full details on the project yet. But whatever he does know about it makes him very nervous, Bruce. I've worked with him for a long time. I know when he thinks he is about to be in the center of a media frenzy."

"The media gets into frenzied over a lot of stupid things too. It's me, so it's gotta be fluff right?"

"I would sleep better if I thought that," the reporter said. "I really thought that calling would make you more amicable to telling me."

Bruce's PDA beeped. He looked at the readout for a moment. When he next spoke into the phone, his voice was cold and hard.

"Go back to the office, Kent and look at the wire. I'm busy. But good work. I'm so glad you are watching our backs at the Daily Planet."

Bruce hung up and looked back at the small screen, willing it to say something different. It didn't.

"Thursday 1400: GNN to unmask Flash during live broadcast."

He looked at his watch.

Sixteen hours.


	15. Progression

Chapter 14: Progression

Wally was working on some files in the police lab when he heard Diana's voice come over the communicator.

"_A van just left GNN headquarters."_

"_Timing's right, that should be the one,"_ Superman's voice responded quickly. _"Keep us posted on where it's going."_

It was an odd feeling, having the Justice League communicating while at the lab. He usually wore his communicator while he was there but he left it on an emergency only channel. Today, it was on an open channel which was specifically being used for tracking the GNN van and any fall-out.

The previous night, Superman and Diana had found Flash in the cafeteria after his monitor duty and told him what had come across the news wire. There wasn't a lot to tell. Neither of them knew if GNN knew Wally was the Flash but they did explain that they would be watching the van no matter where it went. No one was going to be hurt in an attempt to discover the identity of Flash, even if the television crew had the wrong person.

Diana stressed that they had taken steps to suggest someone else was Flash and that even if they did come to the lab, it was not a foregone conclusion that they had the right person. However, whatever GNN did, the League would keep the identity of the Flash a secret.

They were depressingly light on details. Wally assumed that was because Batman wasn't sharing any but he didn't want to ask.

* * *

Wally went to the lab, pretending that he wasn't jumpy and ignoring the concerned looks from his coworkers. Andy had been giving him some distance and it wasn't until after they had returned from the deli that Wally realized the other man hadn't spoken to him at all, rather giving him his distance.

So, he was working, unusually efficiently without any socialization. It seemed like the right thing to do, if it was to be his last day on the job as a normal person.

"_Oh, Hera, they've stopped. Central City's forensics lab."_

"_Understood,"_ Batman's voice said calmly.

Wally looked around before realizing that the lab had no windows. He must have gasped because the two people working closest to him gave him a strange look. He did his best impression of a Batglare (although he had no idea what it looked like) and the people went back to their work.

"_They are going to have to set up the live feed. Transport back, Diana," _Batman said.

"_I'll stay. I may need to get him out of there,"_ Diana said.

"_No, you won't. Transport back," _Batman said firmly.

"_I'm going to –" _she started.

"_Her. Here. Now,"_ Batman barked.

There was a moment of silence and then Diana's angry regal voice blasted across the channel. _"How dare you? How dare you treat me like that!"_

Wally could imagine the scene perfectly. Batman would be standing at the monitors with his back to Diana as she stormed into the room. They would argue and at some point seem seconds from a physical fight and then there would be peace. Flash didn't understand what it was about them but he understood why they were paired for missions. When they were at their worst, they were the only ones who could put up with the other one. They both acted like they ruled the world, Flash mused.

"_Diana, calm down or I'll have you locked in your room," _Batman said.

"_Try it," _Diana said, the threat hung in the air.

"_Some other time. Right now, we have bigger problems than your ego,"_ Batman said dryly.

Her growl was impressive, even from hundreds of miles below the Watchtower.

Flash had to swallow a laugh. He heard Superman exaggerate a sigh. Again, in Flash's mind eye, he saw Diana turn on Superman.

"_Someone should be there with him," _she decreed_._

"_You want to explain it to her?" _Batman said, clearly to Superman.

"_Diana, it'll be all right. You don't need to be there," _The Man of Steel said calmly, as if speaking to a growling dog. _"Besides, we can always transport everyone out."_

"_I thought we had that covered. Isn't that why I made a fool of myself," _Diana shot back.

"_Yes, but Diana, it has to be obvious that none of them are the Flash, not just that it isn't Wally."_

"_I know!" _Diana said, her voice rising with her anger. _"This just needs to work."_

"_Tick tock, Kent" _Batman interrupted.

"_Plenty of time," _Superman said and Flash thought he heard the door of the Watchtower slide open and close.

The sudden silence over the communicator was unnerving. Wally looked up from the files as there was a commotion outside the lab. There were voices in protest and the quieter response of someone else.

GNN was coming.

* * *

It had taken less than thirty seconds for all work at the lab to cease. The GNN crew – one cameraman and a perky blonde reporter – had walked into the room and that was it. Most people either stepped closer or further from the camera but Wally stood absolutely still. He watched the reporter as she looked around the room. She locked eyes with him for an instant and then moved on to the others.

He stood his ground.

The reporter flipped her hair and turned to the cameraman, who had been busying himself looking for the best location to set up. A man from the lab's administration was standing near the reporter looking seriously uncomfortable. Occasionally, he would quietly say something to the reporter and she would brush him off with a wave of her hand. Wally wished he could remember the administrator's name.

Finally he turned to the lab staff.

"This reporter is here to film," he said. "Obviously if, because of the nature of position here, you do not want to be on televison, you are within your rights to leave."

Wally considered for a moment. The fact was that the lab techs had worked to put some dangerous people behind bars, but lab techs weren't a likely victim of an angry criminal. Maybe if some others go, he would go too.

"Why are they filming?" a co-worker, Lisa, who had never wanted to date Wally, asked.

"Flash works here," the reporter replied. "Didn't you know?"

Lisa laughed with derision. "Oh, sure, one of _these _guys."

All of the men in the lab glared at her. But no one left.

"No one wants to super speed out of here to save his identity?" the reporter asked lightly.

Wally thought that sounded like a good idea. He also was aware of chatter over the League communicator but he wasn't paying attention to it. He was just watching the camera to see where it was directed.

"Are you ready, Charlie?" the reporter asked the cameraman. He nodded once and Wally watched the small light on the camera go red.

The reporter moved to the middle of the lab, keeping an eye on a small monitor that showed the live feed on GNN.

"That's right," the reporter said, clearly back to the anchor at the GNN headquarters. "I'm here in Central City's forensic lab where Flash has his day job. Stay tuned until after the break and I'll tell you who he is."

"And we're out," the camera man said.

He looked at the report for a moment. "What I don't understand, Cheryl, is how we are going to prove he is Flash. I mean, he isn't going to run fast because we ask nicely."

Cheryl flipped her hair and gave Charlie a sympathetic look. "Body language. We will know if we are being lied to. Besides, he wears his uniform under his shirt. I mean, don't they all?"

"_Please tell me you didn't do that today," _Batman's voice rang over the communicator.

"Ah," Flash replied without conviction.

"_I am not sure if I am impressed more by your dedication or your stupidity."_

"Well," Flash said softly.

"_Well said. Shut up."_

Wally focused back on the reporters.

Cheryl was talking. "Look, I was in a meeting for an hour about this. Since no one is going to like _drop a baby out a window_ for him to catch, we are pretty much left with this."

"Someone suggested dropping a baby out the window?" Charlie the cameraman said, his voice begging to be corrected.

"Not a real baby. A doll. But he wouldn't know that. I mean, we would switch them."

"Remind me to quit when we get back to that station."

Cheryl rolled her eyes at him. "I have no idea what your problem is."

"Back in 30 seconds," Charlie said quickly.

Wally watched Cheryl look at all of the lab staff members. "Last chance," she said again.

"_Stand strong, Flash,"_ Wonder Woman said. It worked. The nervousness left him. He was bigger, stronger and smarter than this. The League, like any good team, has his back. His part was to stand there and be ready to react to whatever happened.

He nodded and watched as Cheryl adjusted her microphone, tossed her hair behind her shoulders and smiled for the camera.

Charlie used his fingers to count down from five. At zero, Cheryl's smile volted up a notch.

"Welcome back," she said and started moving towards the gathered staff members. "The Flash has been the protector of Central City for years. I don't think I exaggerate when I say that everyone watching this broadcast has benefited from his courage and skills."

"_She's wrong. She is exaggerating,"_ Batman said. "_Now would be good."_

Wally had been enjoying the praise but his forehead wrinkled at Batman's comment. What would be good now?

He went back to listening to Cheryl's praise. "Another sign of his wonderful nature is that when he is not fighting crime in his mask, he is fighting crime here, in the Central City crime lab."

Cheryl was getting closer to where Wally was standing. He was ready. He would protect the people he loved and it would all be fine. He could and would handle it.

"The Flash is Andrew Lantz," Cheryl said and put a hand on the stunned Andy.

A streak of red tore through the room. It passed Cheryl. When it left the room, Cheryl was holding a sign that said "Oh, so sorry. That's not correct."

It was chaos. Cheryl read the sign and turned bright red and flustered. Andy looked stunned and kept shaking his head. The rest of the lab were shouting at either the thought of Andy as the Flash or the red streak that had through.

The red streak that couldn't slow down because it would become obvious that Superman and Flash had completely different builds.

Wally laughed.

The red streak tore through again. The first sign was replaced with another. "Lovely parting gifts for you, though."

A dozen roses were tucked in Cheryl's arm.

Wally continued laughing.

"They've cut us off," Charlie said over the fray.

Cheryl turned to Andy fast enough to send the flowers flying. "How did you do that?"

"Me!" Andy squeaked. "I didn't do anything!"

Cheryl glared. "All the clues suggested someone in the lab. And then Wonder Woman got dumped by the Flash outside your apartment and you want me to believe you aren't the Flash?"

"It isn't me!" Andy squeaked.

Cheryl snarled. "I know. I know. I know. And so do a million other people. Damn it! I was going to win a Pulitzer!"

Wally stopped laughing and watched as the GNN crew packed up their things and left. The staff stood around for several minutes listening to Andy deny everything. They believed him. The Flash had shown up when Andy had. That was so Flash, with the signs and the flowers.

Wally agreed with everyone. Andy and the Flash had been in the room at the same time.


	16. Energico

AN: I am so sorry that my attempt to load the last chapter was a total flop. I think I knocked the dust off and now can get the last two chapters (an afterword after this one) without problem.

Chapter 15: Energico

"_By now, if you haven't seen GNN's attempt to unmask The Flash on live television, get on YouTube right now and check it out. No, it's okay. I'll wait. The jokes write themselves so I've got some extra time."_

Bruce flipped the television off before the punch line. He had snickered a bit at yesterday's show when the late-night talk show host "found" several female Justice League members at a themed men's club and "revealed" their true identities.

He was dressing for the foundation fundraiser in his room at the Manor but he wanted to monitor the threat on Flash at the same time.

The shows had confirmed what he suspected – no one wanted to risk embarrassment by hunting the identities of the League members.

The League had bought a reprieve, but that was it. It wouldn't be long before someone, backed by Cadmus or not, decided it was worth the potential embarrassment to discover who wore the masks. And, odds being what they were, at some point someone was going to correctly identify a League member.

The law of averages was one reason why he hadn't been a fan of forming the Justice League. If all he cared about was protecting his own identity, he could do that and undoubtedly succeed. If he cared about protecting the identities of hundreds of Justice League members, he set himself up for eventual failure.

He took a deep, meditative breath. They made it through this last round safely. He could worry about the next round when it started. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

And the day had lots of evil.

He turned towards the mirror to check his tuxedo's bowtie. Straight.

Bruce sensed Alfred's entrance before he saw the older man's reflection in the mirror.

"Master Bruce? It is time to leave," Alfred said. Only Bruce would have seen the excitement on the butler's face.

"Alfred, I don't know what you think is happening tonight, but I assure you, it isn't."

Alfred's expression did not change. "Sir, I am afraid I do not know what you are referring to. However, you don't want to be too late to your own party."

Bruce smiled a Bruce Wayne smile, nodded his obedience and followed the man out the bedroom to the car.

He had warned him. That was all he could do.

* * *

Diana sat on the edge of her bed, slipping on her high heels. The sounds of celebrating echoed from the hallway. Members of the Justice League had been acting as if it was New Year's Eve.

Flash had returned to the Watchtower like a conquering hero. Laughing and smiling, he challenged Superman to a race around the Watchtower which had quickly turned into Flash racing half of the League members. During his race with Green Arrow, he stopped long enough to give her a hug.

"I would have made it work if they had found me out," he told her, "but I'm so thankfully I don't have to."

"Anything for you," she said, squeezing him back. The importance of the secret identity hit her and broke her heart.

Wally had kissed her gently on the cheek and pulled away with a huge grin. "I have to go now, Green Arrow is closing in. I am only three laps ahead of him!"

She had known Flash would be happy but the party atmosphere in the Watchtower had surprised her. It may not have, if she had thought about it at all. Her focus had been on protecting Flash. Alien invaders had fallen with less celebration. This victory, she realized, was more personal for them. The importance of the secret identity hit her and broke her heart.

Personalizing it for herself, she realized what she had asked Bruce to risk by publically acknowledging their relationship. She was no longer in the mood for the party, although she was dressed for it and she knew she would be there. She wanted to meditate on Man's World and how complicated it all could be.

* * *

There were easily 500 people at The Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation cocktail reception and fundraiser for Gotham General Hospital. Although Bruce's back was to the door, when all the voices fell silent, he knew what had happened.

Diana had arrived.

He turned to watch. Watching her walk into a room removed any doubt that the gods had blessed her. She wore a floor length, sleeveless, silver metallic dress that caught the light as she moved. One side had a mid-thigh high slit allowed everyone a view of her legs and the matching heels. It was art in motion.

The fluidity of her motion was effortless, her expression was one of regal affection and (Bruce suspected he was the only one who saw this), her eyes swept the room measuring it for potential dangers, exit strategies and weapons.

How could you not love her?

When he caught her eye, he saw a hint of distraction that delayed her smile of greeting. Outwardly, he made no acknowledgement of it, but he indulged in a moment of regret. Diana had been raised in paradise and every time his world showed her some of its ugliness, he hurt a bit for her. Although those glimpses were turning her into a more interesting woman than the princess he had met those years ago.

He took a deep breath, plastered a stupid smile on his face and prepared himself to play host.

"Princess Diana, thank you so much for coming!" he said grandly and walked up to her, pausing a respectable few feet in front of her.

Her head jerked slightly in surprise, something she always did when she first came upon him when he was in full playboy mode. It was perfect. She was probably unaware that she did it, but for the observers, it was as if she was trying to remember who he was.

Which was, to some extent, exactly what she was doing.

"Bruce Wayne," she said with a smile that lit her eyes, "it is wonderful to see you. Thank you for inviting me."

"Of course," he said. "By inviting you, I can convince you to save me a dance."

Her smile turned flirtatious. "That assumes I am that grateful for the invitation."

He laughed his playboy laugh and the few people who had been listening in turned back to their other conversations.

"I want to talk to you," Diana said, dropping her voice so only he could hear.

"All right," Bruce replied, playing casual. "Let's dance then."

She took his offered hand and he took her to the dance floor. The band was playing a slow song, perfect for talking and dancing. They took several turns around the floor, Bruce allowing her the time to gather her thoughts and start the conversation.

"You shouldn't be doing this," she said finally.

"Dancing? People actually think I am quite good at it," he teased in spite of himself.

She laughed. "You know what I mean."

"Perhaps, Princess, but I'd rather you tell me. It ensures we are on the same page."

"You can't woo me in public. It isn't safe."

_Bingo,_ he thought. But out loud, he chuckled. "You mean more than I have been already or not at all?"

"Not at all."

He leaned in a bit to her so that his lips were next to her ear. "Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. I'm Bruce Wayne. Wooing people – and for the record, I hate that expression – is what I do."

She leaned into him a bit more. "And you are very good at it."

"Thank you, Princess. I practice quite a bit."

It was her turn to laugh. "Bruce, I'm trying to be serious."

He twirled her, although it didn't exactly fit the music. When she twirled back, he pressed her against him.

"I know. You understand now, don't you?"

"The importance of a secret identity? Not fully but you should have seen the Watchtower today. It was like – "she paused, struggling for the right words.

"Like we had saved them all," he finished for her.

"Yes," she whispered.

He hid his face behind her hair and kissed her neck. Once again, he mourned the princess and celebrated the woman.

"We did. And one day, we won't be able to."

"But I won't be the reason why they were at risk."

A surge of feelings he would never say nearly cost him his footing.

"No," he whispered. "I know."

"So, you were right. It should stay the way it is," she said firmly.

"Next time, just remember that I am right and save yourself the trouble of finding it out on your own."

He watched her eyes as she smiled back. They were shining. Probably, he realized, for the first time since this stupid thing started, she was completely happy.

She leaned towards him. "I love you, Bruce Wayne. All of you."

And then she pulled back and slapped him.

* * *

Michael Takayanna was nursing a whiskey when Bruce Wayne, one side of his face bright pink, marched over to him.

He closed his eyes for a second, gulped down the rest of his drink, hoping against hope that when he opened his eyes, Bruce Wayne would not be standing in front of him.

But he was.

"Well, that didn't go the way it should have," Bruce said simply. "Thank heaven you will deal with it and not me."

Michael stared. "What?"

"Wonder Woman slapped me. Apparently she has no ideas what signals she sends on a regular basis. So, now I look stupid and you get explain it away."

Michael felt Bruce slap his shoulder before he turned around and disappeared.

Michael closed his eyes for a moment and allowed himself another drink. Tomorrow was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

Superman, from his post in the Watchtower swore. The news footage was hours old which meant the fallout from this was probably raining down as he watched.

He watched in horror as Diana slapped Bruce. On the face. In front of hundreds of people.

"_You arrogant, arrogant, MAN!"_ Diana shrieked, pushing back from Bruce as if he had threatened her with lethal harm.

The pain on the playboy's face quickly turned to anger.

"_You need to learn how things work here," _he hissed at her.

"_I assure you that you will not be the one to teach me,"_ she replied, her words cut like ice and, turning sharply on her heels, strode angrily from the camera's view.

The camera panned back to Bruce who watched her for a moment. Then, rubbing his cheek, he turned towards the camera.

"_Show's over,"_ he said. The camera went black.

They couldn't fight. Not seriously. Why were they fighting now? They were the best pairing for missions! Superman sighed. He could work with Batman. Diana and Flash? No, Flash was too good with Green Lantern. She wasn't going to willingly pair with non-Founders for too long. Green Arrow? He wasn't a Founder but highly respected. But then Black Canary would complain.

Superman moaned. Why couldn't Wonder Woman and Batman be calm, happy natured people like he was?

"J'onn," Superman called without bothering to activate his communicator.

The Martian appeared. "Yes?"

Superman showed him the footage. J'onn watched with his standard lack of expression. When it was over, he looked back at Superman. He said nothing but the question was on his face.

"They've actually come to blows. We can't partner them for a while. They need to cool down," Superman explained.

"Have either one of them requested that?" J'onn asked simply.

"No, but they wouldn't, would they? Because the other one is wrong and needs to apologize."

"Then, may I suggest that until one of them asks, we don't change anything."

"It looks bad," Superman said. "I should talk to them."

"Don't," J'onn said firmly. "They are private people."

Superman gave the Martian a hard look. "Do you know something about this?"

"This? No," J'onn replied.

Superman attempted to harden the look. J'onn stared back. The Man of Steel had caught the precision in J'onn's answer. He knew something.

"I'll take care of it," J'onn said finally.

Superman nodded and sighed as J'onn left and the Man of Steel returned to monitor duty.

_Why couldn't those two just play nice?_

_

* * *

  
_

In the Wayne Manor, Alfred watched the same footage in the privacy of his suite. He paused the screen as it caught Bruce's expression when she slapped him.

He watched it and rewound it twice before he was sure.

Bruce's smile had been real as she slapped him.

Alfred clapped his hands.

Diana had kept her promise. She had fixed it.


	17. Afterword

Afterword

Amanda Waller left her office late, as usual, and walked across the parking lot to her new car. The well-lit lot appeared empty, but, as was her habit, she walked with her keys sticking out from in-between her fingers in case of an attack.

She was only a few feet from her car when she hit the remote to unlock the car door. The car lights came on and the car beeped.

Amanda had just touched the door of her car when she heard shuffling but couldn't see anything.

"You work late," a female voice said from one of the few unlit areas near Amanda's car.

Wonder Woman came out of the dark spot that should not have been big enough to contain her. Amanda kept control over her fear.

"You need to practice that more," Amanda said, trying to add some bite to her words. "He does that much better."

Wonder Woman smiled cruelly. "Yes, he does. He is much more _subtle_ than I am."

There was something cold about the Amazon that was keeping Amanda edgy.

"But I am not here to discuss him. I wanted to make something very, very clear to you about members of the League."

"Yes, Batman made it very clear. He is watching me. He doesn't want me pursuing them," Amanda snarled. Repetition was tedious. Especially when the order was absurd and from those she did not obey.

"That is where you aren't quite clear. I am watching you too. And I see things in black and white, Amanda. You cross a member of the League, I won't consider why you are doing it or the degree of how you cross them. I won't consider a plan that makes your actions backfire on you. In fact, I won't consider anything. I'll just take you down. Ask Batman next time you see him. He'll tell you. I just punch and leave."

Wonder Woman flew away, leaving Amanda alone in the parking lot.

It was the next day when Amanda, sitting in the sun, realized that she had her wedge. And she was it.

**AN: Heaven help us all, this took me more than a year to write but I am leaving enough loose ends for a sequel (I have a scene already cooking in my wee brain).**


End file.
